What about the water footprint of almonds?
Almond milk is the most water-intensive plant milk, and still uses markedly less water per litre than dairy. Oat and soya use less again.
Almonds are grown mostly in California's drought-stricken Central Valley, where each nut takes several litres of water to produce and orchards draw down rivers and aquifers that people and ecosystems depend on. A diet sold as the environmentally responsible choice has made one of the thirstiest crops in one of the driest farming regions a staple, which suggests that swapping animal products for plant ones does not automatically lighten the load on scarce water. If vegans are going to claim the environmental high ground, the water cost of their own favourite substitutes has to count against them too.
The criticism of almonds is not baseless: almond cultivation is concentrated in drought-prone California and is water-intensive relative to other plant milks. Where water scarcity is the specific concern, that is worth weighing.
It does not transfer into an argument for dairy. Comparative analyses consistently place dairy milk above every plant milk on water use per litre, as well as on land use and emissions, because the water consumed by the cow is additional to the water used growing what the cow eats. Oat and soya milk sit well below almond. Choosing one of those answers the objection without reaching for dairy.
Presenting only the evidence that supports a conclusion while leaving out evidence that tells against it.
How it applies here: Selects the most water-intensive plant milk and treats it as representative of plant-based options as a whole, while the comparison that matters is with the product it is replacing.