Kim Kardashian & other celebrities called out for violating LA’s drought rules

Here in Virginia, we never really have “drought conditions.” Every five years or so, we’ll have a particularly dry month and the water utility company will send out a notice to keep an eye on our water usage, but that’s about it. If anything, we’re more likely to deal with flooding, especially during hurricane season, when hurricanes hit the states below us and then the hurricane remnant moves up to Virginia and dumps a f–kton of water on us. I can’t actually imagine living somewhere with near-permanent drought conditions. But Californians do. Californians – specifically LA County residents – are dealing with water restrictions and permanent drought conditions. Some celebrities don’t care though. Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Hart and Sylvester Stallone are all being called out by the municipal water people.

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.

The pair have received “notices of exceedance” from the district, which serves the wealthy cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village. Those notices are given to district residents who have surpassed their monthly water usage budget allotted by the department at least four times, McNutt said.

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. Now, the water department could install flow restriction devices that can reduce gushing showers to a mere trickle, and would almost certainly turn the rolling lawns surrounding their respective mansions brown.

The violations were first reported by the Los Angeles Times. On Tuesday, McNutt confirmed the data, adding that, in all, more than 1,600 residents are breaking the rules.

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.

McNutt said the Kardashians have flouted their official water allowance by 150% or more for several months since water conservation efforts were first implemented at the end of last year.

By the utility’s count, he said, Kim Kardashian’s two adjoining lots in Hidden Hills, guzzled their June allotment and then some, going over by about 232,000 gallons. Her sister, Kourtney, who lives in Calabasas, drained another 101,000 gallons in excess. Combined, that amount of water would fill half of an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

[From NPR]

How are Kim and Kourtney using that much water, honestly? I guess some of it could be their pools, plus they both have kids and big households. I think it’s probably maintenance on the yard, right? She has lush greenery on her property, she has a kitchen garden, she has a pool. Anyway, Kim is going to hate it if they manually cut off her water to that degree.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

33 Responses to “Kim Kardashian & other celebrities called out for violating LA’s drought rules”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Ariel says:

    I vote for cutting their water off.
    Money can’t fix everything.

    Unless she wants to invest turning salty sea water into non-salty drinking water.

  2. K says:

    I blame Kim’s thirst.

  3. CTgirl says:

    I can’t wrap my mind around that kind of water usage. That is a disgusting example of privilege.

    • Mary Tosti says:

      It makes me wonder too. Like who is using all that water and for what? Have shorter showers, turn the water off when you are brushing your teeth, etc. Dont water the lawn. Don’t fill the bath tub to the very top. Do full loads of laundry rather than several small ones (not that they are using their laundry machines). There are things that can be done… little changes make a difference. They just do not care.

      • Flowerlake says:

        I catch part of the water I use when showering and use it to water the plants, as well as some of the communal plants outside if it hasn’t rained in a while. And I’m from a water rich country.

        They should really take care of what they do.

      • equality says:

        I use the shower water to flush also. You don’t need clean water for that.

      • Lucy says:

        Individual actions are so important and it warms my heart when I hear other people doing them! But this…It’s not *really* about daily, individual water usage, but things like unnecessary things lawns, private pools, golf courses, and growing water intensive crops in non-native areas. Industrial usage to make things we don’t really need is also sky high.

      • Jo says:

        Definitely the lawn folks. Their estates are like golf course and Lawn is the largest water usage crop in our country. That’s more than corn, more than soy, more than almonds, more than oranges……

  4. Lady Keller says:

    I have mixed feelings. Obviously these wealthy types don’t get any special favors, but let’s call out industry and unsustainable agriculture practices for what they are. Kim k’s swimming pool is a drop in the bucket compared to an almond farm.

    Plus, can we please stop with the lush green lawns. Let’s save our water for something more useful please.

    • Lucy says:

      Golf courses are also typically exempt from these rules, even in areas prone to drought. Zero people *need* to golf! Let’s start there.

      • HoofRat says:

        Seconded! And can we please mention the obscene amount of herbicides and pesticides required to keep that manicured monoculture looking good? Golf courses are a blight on the landscape.

    • Mary Tosti says:

      Agreed. There are many things people can change at home, even small changes, to make a difference but commercial farming is brutal on the environment. Not just water consumption, many other areas as well.
      That being said, there is not reason/excuse any household needs to be using that much water. Especially in areas of drought.

      • Colby says:

        IMO the push for average individuals to “do better” is a bit of a scam. Not to say we shouldn’t all do our best, of course, but its absolutely unfair that we are made to feel guilty for drinking from plastic straws when industrial fishing is what is destroying and polluting our oceans..or that we need to take 5 minute showers when golf courses are out here guzzling water.

        Again, not that we shouldnt try- but I think the focus on the average individual is a smoke screen to protect industrial environmental abuse

    • Flowerlake says:

      Gardens that are just lawns are not great anyway (still better than stone tiles). Lots of animals are in need of a habitat and food. Let’s plant more flowers that bees etc love in at least parts of our gardens/balconies.

      Catch rain or shower water to water them and it doesn’t have to add much to our water usage

      • Julia K says:

        I would like to catch and re use shower water, but it goes straight down the drain. Can anyone tell me how you’re able to catch and save this? I’m not being a smart mouth; I just really don’t know.

      • Colby says:

        There is something called a rain barrel you can install on your gutters – it diverts water from the gutter pipes (is that the right word? Im sure not but you get it), so instead of just letting the water onto the ground, it goes into the barrel

        ETA: lol @ myself – I misread your comment – I have no idea on shower water…. but leaving the rain barrel comment for others if they are curious about saving rain water

      • JustStoppingBy says:

        Julia K, search for “grey water systems”. There are lots of options, it just depends on your home and your budget.

  5. girl_ninja says:

    Shaped like a tooth and thirsty for that water.

    In all seriousness, some of these rich folks need to tighten it UP. We are in a climate crisis and we all have to do our part. We live on a nice plot of land but we do not water the lawn the way these folks do. There has been rain here the last two days and that has been met with gratitude.

  6. Colby says:

    Californian here. We are in BIG trouble with our water. The city needs to straight up cut people off. Rich people and businesses done care about wasting water because they can pay the fines.

  7. Paulkid says:

    Let us also deem planned communities with man made lakes as another luxury we can ill afford.

  8. Flowerlake says:

    People like this are responsible for way, way more than their fair share of pollution and consumption.

    See also Taylor Swift and the ridiculous use of her jet, putting even Kylie in the shade.

  9. Desdemona says:

    232,000 gallons – That’s almost 900 cubic metres,,, I spend 7mor 8 cubic metres of water
    This is criminal. It’s environmentally criminal and they shouldn0t be able to spend ythat much water…
    Criminals…

    • lucy2 says:

      I can’t imagine how they even used that much. My usage is pretty low, I usually just get charged my town’s quarterly minimum base charge, and I have an irrigation system.

  10. Robyn says:

    As someone who just moved my family cross country as a drought related climate migrant, I just want to say that this is DISGUSTING.

  11. ME says:

    Not surprised. Also, I heared golf courses are exempt from the drought rules. Is this true?

  12. Mila says:

    I can’t with these ppl! I’ve tried defending her but I can’t!!!

  13. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    Cut em off.

  14. Rachill says:

    She’s gross, no wonder Pete dumped her ass.

    I wish people would chill the F out on fast fashion too.
    HUGE waste of water. It’s actually insane when you look into how much water is used to make ONE top.

    All these people buying 100 items on shein for $200 bux kill me. And they usually don’t even look good.

    Bye Planet

  15. ej says:

    These people are disgusting. Their absolutely reprehensible behavior is inexcusable and they all deserve a big, fat, permanent cancellation.

  16. JRenee says:

    This is a reminder that some people think the rules aren’t for them. Reminds me of a few years ago when Tom Selleck was exposed for taking water from a hydrant or something for his avocado Grove during another drought.
    If there’s no punishment, they won’t follow the rules…