Is that applied water or consumed water? The only water crops consume is that which is transpired from the plant. Of the amount diverted or applied for irrigation, some is evaporated, some recharges the aquifer and some may runoff overland to the nearest waterbody. (The portion to the aquifer just takes a bit longer to move underground in the spaces between clay or sand particles to that waterbody.
Most people who decry the amount diverted or applied for irrigation don’t realize that what is actually consumed is a small portion of the water cycle.
I don’t particularly see how that is relevant. The cost of the water is associated with collecting and distributing it, which is similar regardless of the cost.
FTM, water used by city dwellers isn’t “used up,” either. Most goes right down the drain and back into the river or whatever, with some used to water lawns, where it acts much like the water you describe for crops.
I am always amused by the people who routinely claim we’re “using up” our water. We have pretty much exactly the same amount of water on the planet as last year or a million years ago.
It’s just not always where it’s convenient for us, or as clean as we’d like it to be. LOL