Some of Los Angeles’ most famous celebrities are getting put on blast after being outed for their excessive water use amid a severe drought emergency throughout Southern California.
Kim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney are among Southern California’s worst offenders, Mike McNutt, a spokesman for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District told NPR.
Comedian Kevin Hart, former NBA star Dwyane Wade and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, and Sylvester Stallone have also continued to exceed district limits despite repeated warnings and fines.
He noted that the district is 100% reliant on imported water from the Sierra Nevada mountains 400 miles away. “We have no groundwater, we have no other alternative sources to draw from,” he added.
Dwyane Wade and actress wife Gabrielle Union’s May bill was staggering — they used an extra 489,000 gallons of water that month due to a swimming pool malfunction, the couple said in a statement to the LA Times.
Meanwhile, a representative for Sylvester Stallone and his model wife, Jennifer Flavin, used 230,000 excess gallons of water – more than 533% than their allocated budget. Kevin Hart’s 26-acre Calabasas property also got more than 117,000 gallons than is budgeted for such a parcel.
“For the celebrities or musicians or athletes who all live in the area, monetary penalties are going to be meaningless to them because they have plenty of money and if they want to, they could spend $5,000 a month on a water bill,” he said.
According to McNutt, that would mean installing a flow restriction device that would automatically reduce outside water usage by 70%.
People who prioritize lush, green landscaping over conservation must “understand that what they’re doing is they’re taking water away from somebody that could be miles and miles and miles away … who needs it for cooking, cleaning, or bathing,” McNutt said.
