Living in California is not for the faint of heart. Between the wildfires and droughts alone there is a lot to worry about and to protect against. But Kim Kardashian is blissfully unbothered. The LA Times recently found that the reality TV mogul exceeded her budgeted water by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District by 232,000 gallons in June. She was one of several celebrities issued “notices of exceedance” by the District for exceeding their limit by 150% or more at least four times since a drought emergency was declared at the end of last year. The properties are now potentially subject to the instillation of water flow restriction devices that could turn Kardashian’s luxurious showers into something you’d find at Bonnaroo (could you imagine?!).
Among the other offenders was also Kim’s sister Kourtney, who exceeded her allotment — which the agency determines based on the number of occupants and the amount of irrigated land on a property — by 101,000 gallons. Neither Kardashian responded to the Times’ requests for comment. Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union were also issued a notice. They blamed their excess of 90,000 gallons in June and a staggering 489,000 gallons in May on a problem with their pool. The couple said in a statement, “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.”
Another celeb who seemed rather flustered by receiving a notice was Sylvester Stallone, who also went over his permitted water by about 230,000 gallons. Stallone and his wife, model Jennifer Falvin, released a pouty response via their attorney Marty Singer, alleging that the numbers misrepresented the realities. The statement read in part, “They have more than 500 mature trees on the property, including innumerable fruit trees as well as pine trees. Absent adequate watering, in all likelihood they would die. That could result in dead or damaged trees falling on my client’s property or neighboring properties.”
While we all want trees to live, watering your fruit trees irresponsibly planted in the wrong climate during a historic drought sounds like champagne problems energy. Stallone also complained about being “unfairly singled out in the story because he is a famous person,” but that’s just the point. Whether it’s water or the CO2 emitted by private jets used by the likes of Kylie Jenner and Drake, celebrities need to be called out for their egregious climate violations. They have more power to offend than anyone with their excessive lifestyles, and the most frustrating part is that while contributing to the devastation of climate change, they also will be rich enough to avoid the negative effects the longest. They’ll be able to afford to relocate when things get real while the rest of us plebeians take over their dilapidated, abandoned properties like rogue crustaceans. So in the meantime, we’re just asking that they please, for the love of whatever you believe in, don’t waste so much fucking water.
