Several celebrities have been accused of using excessive amounts of water and violating restrictions put in place amid Southern California’s severe drought.
PEOPLE can confirm that stars includingSylvester Stallone,KimandKourtney Kardashian,Dwyane WadeandKevin Hartare among the biggest users of water in the the communities of Hidden Hills and Calabasas.
All have surpassed 150% of their monthly water budgets at least four times since Las Virgenes Municipal Water District began enforcing water restrictions at the end of 2021 due to the ongoing drought.
The Los Angeles Timeswas the first to report the news Monday.
Representatives for Hart and the Kardashians did not immediately reply to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Wade and a lawyer for Stallone issued statements to theTimes, below.
Kim Kardashian, Dwyane Wade and Sylvester Stallone.Todd Owyoung/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images; Udo Salters/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images; Joe Maher/Getty Images
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District spokesperson Mike McNutt tells PEOPLE that these households were among more than 1,600 customers who received their fourth “notices of exceedance” in May or June.
Calabasas.Mario Tama/Getty Images
McNutt says that upon receiving these notices, customers are asked to sign a commitment form to show their desire to work with the agency to reduce their excess usage. They are also added to a list of customers who will receive a flow restriction device if their usage does not change.
“Once they sign that, they’re not removed from the list, they’re set off to the side. We’ll look and find out if they’re actually doing what they committed to doing. And of course, if they’re not, then [they must install a] flow restrictor,” McNutt explains.
The fines increase for every additional notice. They start at about $2.50 per every unit (748 gallons) of water used over their allotment and can go up to $10 per extra unit.
“The real deterrent is the threat of the installation of a flow restriction device,” McNutt says. He claims that because so many of their customers in the area are extremely wealthy, paying an expensive water bill or fine is “nothing to them.”
Once a flow restrictor is installed, water is limited significantly. Rather than having a one-inch pipe bringing water into a home, the opening is reduced to 1/16 of an inch. The restrictor will be installed for two weeks initially and if the resident continues to use excess resources, it will be placed on for a month.
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District
McNutt tells PEOPLE that since beginning to issue these devices on June 1 of this year, they have had to install “well over 50.”
He also notes that many of those in violation of the restrictionshavemade changes and water use is down noticeably since the most recent round of notices.
All of the celebrities named in the report have “significantly reduced” their water use, according to McNutt. “They have been actively working with the water district to reduce their water consumption. They want to do the right thing,” he says.
gabunion/Instagram
In a statement to theTimes, Wade and his wife,Gabrielle Union, said their excess water usage has been due to an issue with their pool.
“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.”
Stallone’s attorney Marty Singer told theTimesthat the overage, which in the actor’s case were a reported 230,000 gallons in June and 195,000 in May, could “mischaracterize and misrepresent the situation regarding the water usage at my client’s property.”
Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin.Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
Singer went on to say that the couple has “more than 500 mature trees on the property” that need “adequate watering” to prevent them from dying and falling over.
McNutt told theTimesthat the district has made progress since 2019 when it comes to its water usage.
The outlet notes that the approximate 75,000 customers that the agency serves are some of the highest water users in the area, but from June 2021 to June 2022, residents went from using about 261 gallones to 170 gallons per person per day.
source: people.com
