They’re among the biggest names in entertainment and sports: Sylvester Stallone, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Hart, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian.
And as Southern California struggles with a third year of punishing drought and unprecedented water restrictions, they may be among the biggest names in water waste in the tony San Fernando Valley enclaves of Calabasas and Hidden Hills, documents obtained by The Times show.
The celebrities were among more than 2,000 customers who recently were issued “notices of exceedance” by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, indicating that they had surpassed 150% of their monthly water budgets at least four times since the agency declared a drought emergency at the end of last year.
Their properties are now subject to the installation of flow restrictor devices, which can reduce showers to a trickle and silence lawn sprinklers.
“Customers are expected to adhere to the water use reductions and water conservation measures that are in place due to this emergency,” the notices read.
Las Virgenes on June 1 imposed severe “Stage 3” restrictions in an effort to achieve an unprecedented 50% reduction in consumption due to a water shortage emergency. The rules limit outdoor watering to one day a week, with only eight minutes per station on the designated day.
Customers received the notices about their usage in May and June. The Times obtained the documents after filing a request under the California Public Records Act.
Among the addresses that received notices was an $18-million Hidden Hills property, listed under the name of former NBA star Wade, that exceeded its allocated water budget in June by more than 1,400%, or 90,000 gallons. That was an improvement over May, when the property exceeded its budget by 489,000 gallons — more than any other customer.
Wade and his wife, actor Gabrielle Union, attributed the excess use at their property to a problem with their pool. In a statement, the couple said they have “taken drastic steps to reduce water usage in accordance with the new city guidelines and have since we moved into our home.”
“We have been doing everything we can to rectify the situation and will continue to go to extensive lengths to resolve the issue,” the statement said. “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.”
Las Virgenes spokesman Mike McNutt said water budgets for properties are determined by a combination of factors, including the number of residents and the amount of irrigated land.
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