Kim, the planet is dying — so maybe it’s time to pull back on watering your lawn, take shorter baths and follow Los Angeles County’s rules on water usage during yet another year of drought in Southern California.
Kim Kardashian, along with her sister Khloe, were revealed to be among the roughly 2,000 customers recently issued “notices of exceedance” for water usage in June by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which serves the wealthy western Los Angeles County cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, and Westlake Village, according to public data obtained by The Los Angeles Times.
Per the report, Kim’s neighboring properties in Hidden Hills used 232,000 excess gallons of water in June, while Khloe’s Calabasas home drained roughly 101,000 gallons over the allotted limit during the same time period — a combined overuse of 333,000 gallons, or roughly half the amount of water required to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Joining the reality TV sisterly duo on the list of offenders are a host of other high profile names, including comedian Kevin Hart (117,000 gallons); retired NBA player Dwayne Wade and actress Gabrielle Union (90,000 gallons); and actor Sylvester Stallone (230,000 gallons). Other individuals called out for their excess water consumption include high-profile Hollywood executives, doctors and lawyers. According to water utility documents, water allowances in the district are determined by the size of both the property and the number of individuals residing in a given household.
Despite the gross over-usage of water, it is worth noting that Wade and Union have made significant strides in reducing their water consumption — although they still have a long way to go. In May 2022, the couple used an excess of water totaling a whopping 489,000 gallons, the most of any resident in the district. In a statement to the Times, Wade and Union said the overuse stemmed from a problem with their pool, stating they have since “taken drastic steps to reduce water usage in accordance with the new city guidelines.” They added: “We have replaced all parts of our pool system that [have] to do with water flow and leakage in addition to converting to synthetic grass and drought tolerant plants to reduce our water usage. We will continue to work with the city and the water distribution company to make sure this isn’t an issue moving forward.”
Marty Singer, a lawyer for Stallone, told the newspaper that the nearly 500 trees dotting the action star’s 2.26-acre Hidden Hills property were to blame for the excess water consumption, claiming that not tending to the foliage “could result in dead or damaged trees falling on my client’s property or neighboring properties.” Singer did share that Stallone has since moved to a drop irrigation system and is working with the city to develop a plan to best mitigate the potential tree issues.
Representatives for Hart and the Kardashian sisters did not respond to the Times‘ requests for comment.
In May, residents of the Las Virgenes district expressed concerns that water agency officials were not doing enough to mitigate the potential water waste caused by large swimming pools, citing efforts of neighboring communities to curtail pool usage. Ventura County — which borders the Las Virgenes district and is roughly a 15-minute drive from the celebrity enclave of Calabasas — completely banned the filling of new pools and spas, and also restricted current pool owners from refilling their swimming pools or hot tubs with more than one foot of water earlier this summer. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, however, has only suggested homeowners with pools utilize pool covers to prevent evaporation, with stricter enforcements only going into effect if the city raises its drought alert level.
“Behavior modifications take time — sometimes very long,” Las Virgenes Municipal Water District spokesman Mike McNutt told the Times in May.
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