The troubled and now almost defunct Hyflux has contracts in Singapore (on a multi-year committed contract at volume) back in 2011 for desalinated water at $0.45/m^3 or $554/acre foot.
1 acre foot = 1233 m^3.
very close to where the spot market right now is for water. water futures are trading at almost the same price as is the cost of desalination. make of it what you may..
meanwhile: almonds in california..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almonds_in_California
[..]
1.Almonds were California's third most valuable agricultural product in 2016, accounting for $5.2 billion (about 11%) of agricultural output. The state produces 80% of the world's almonds and 100% of the United States’ commercial supply.
2. Almonds are California's most valuable export crop. Farmers exported $4.5 billion worth to foreign countries in 2016, about 22% of the state's total agricultural exports. The majority of these exports went to the European Union, China and India. While the EU is the largest consumer, the latter two countries are expanding markets where the state's Almond Board has actively marketed the nuts as a healthy snack.
As part of the 2018 China–United States trade war, China has imposed a 50% tariff on almonds. As a result, some Chinese businesses have resorted to importing almonds from other producers in Africa and Australia.
3. California suffered a severe drought from 2011 to 2017. In addition to economic consequences for the state's almond growers, the industry came under criticism for its water use. As of 2015, almond cultivation consumed about 10% of the state's water. Furthermore, almond acreage increased by 14% from 2007 to 2014, while almond irrigation increased by 27%. Critics have pointed out that the state's 6,000 almond farmers use roughly 35 times the amount of water as the 466,000 residents of Sacramento.
To supplement reduced deliveries from the state's water system, many almond farmers increased groundwater pumping, which can unsustainably deplete aquifers and cause land subsidence.