Comedian Kevin Hart, movie superstar Dwayne “The Rock Johnson,” Dwyane Wade, Wade’s wife Gabrielle Union, and two Kardashian sisters are among A-list celebrities accused of violating California’s strict water usage guidelines amid an ongoing drought.
According to documents by the Los Angeles Times, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which services San Fernando Valley’s affluent cities, including Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Westlake Village and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, issued over 2,000 residents with “notices of exceedance” last May and June.
Based on records obtained from the water supplier, customers surpassed 150 percent of their monthly water budget at least four times since the district issued the new rules to combat the drought.
The records revealed that Hart’s 26-acre Calabasas property was roughly 519 percent or 117,000 gallons over budget. The parents of Kaavia James Union Wade exceeded their water budget by 1,400 percent, or 90,000 gallons, in June at their home in Hidden Hills and 489,000 gallons the month before that.
Mike McNutt, a spokesperson for Las Virgenes, slammed the Hollywood figures for seemingly being negligent about their influence, telling the outlet, “People listen to you, people look at you, people value what you do.” He added, “We need you to step up to the plate, to be examples, and to be leaders so that other people will follow.”
Wade and Union released a statement in response to the incident, claiming the usage was caused by an issue with their pool and that they were “doing everything we can to rectify the situation and will continue to go to extensive lengths to resolve the issue.”
The statement continued, “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.”
According to Drought.gov, nearly 97 percent of L.A. is in a “severe drought.” 2022 is projected to be the fourth driest year in the last 128 years and the first four months of the year being the driest ever on record.
