Before we go claiming that this is a-okay, WHY is it being diverted for use? Have other sources dried up? If so, that would still be really bad.
https://apnews.com/article/albuquerque-droughts-weather-nort...
California's most serious suggestion to this problem is laughable -- cover open irrigation canals with solar panels to reduce evaporation losses. While it will technically achieve something, it is not addressing any part of the root of the problem: wasteful water use on wasteful crops such as almonds, as well as the privatization and nonstop extraction of groundwater by Nestle and other bottlers. We could point to beef as another incredible consumer of water (when accounting for the full food chain) so reducing beef husbandry would be good (replace beef in your diet with chicken and pork for a couple weeks and see if you miss it).