Yes but...who do you think works those fields?
I have repeatedly pointed out to my water district that simply rezoning the big ag operations would remove all their supply problems for the reason you stated: why grow a water intensive crop like strawberries for example when houses on those fields would use far less?
After lots of nervous shuffling of feet it always comes out as “but what will the Mexicans do?”
Modern California is nothing but a host organism for a latent parasite. Brown started the ball rolling back in the early ‘70s by canning any state research into field automation at the insistence of the UFW.
IOW the plan is to retain outdated business models to do one thing....keep Mexico in California
Because there's more money to be made by landowners on strawberries year after year than on a one-time sale for residential development.