That's nonsense. It's native to the Middle East, from the Levant to Pakistan. I see no good reason why growing it should be problematic in California. They either use it as an excuse to get more water for other crops, or they're doing something very wrong, though I have no idea what it could be.
They planted large orchards in a desert. The linked article doesn't make any statements about how much water each tree is getting, so I'm not sure what you would be calling nonsense.
It does state that California grows most of the world supply of almonds, perhaps the number of trees being supported by the imported water is much higher than you think?
Large orchards of desert trees. I get that the valley may be too dry even for almonds, but that won't turn them into a "relatively thirsty crop" as the article insists.
