Kim Kardashian, Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Hart Accused of Massive Drought Restriction Violations

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The post Kim Kardashian, Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Hart Accused of Massive Drought Restriction Violations appeared first on Consequence.

The Western United States and Mexico are in year 22 of a “megadrought” thought to be the worst drought in the region in 1,200 years. As Southern California grapples with an unprecedented water shortage, celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Sylvester Stallone, and Kevin Hart have been accused of massive water restriction violations.

According to the Los Angeles Times, these celebrities were among 2,000 customers of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District issued “notices of exceedance,” meaning they had overstepped their monthly water budget by at least 150% no less than four times since the end of last year.

Kim Kardashian was among the worst offenders, with her Hidden Hills home and adjoining estate exceeding her one-month budget by a whopping 232,000 gallons in June. Her sister Kourtney’s property near Calabasas surpassed her budget by 101,000 gallons, which sounds quite a bit better, until you realize she did it all on 1.86 acres. For comparison, comedian Kevin Hart blew past his water budget by 117,000 gallons on a 26-acre Calabasas property.

Neither of the Kardashians nor Hart offered comment on receiving their notices of exceedance. But actor and director Sylvester Stallone attempted to defend his water usage — 230,000 excess gallons in June, up from 195,000 excess gallons in May. In a statement, his attorney Marty Singer wrote that he has “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’s kind of the point. Nobody wants to see fruit trees die if it can be helped, but according to Las Virges spokesperson Mike McNutt, it can’t be helped. “We’re asking them to not just minimize their water usage, but we’re also asking them, in a way, to just completely rethink what is aesthetically pleasing to them and how that’ll impact their property values,” he said. “And that is not something that happens overnight.”

In other words, it doesn’t matter how you feel about mature fruit trees, they don’t belong in the desert at a time when there isn’t enough water to go around.

“Customers are expected to adhere to the water use reductions and water conservation measures that are in place due to this emergency,” the notices of exceedance read. Those properties are now subject to the installation of flow restrictor devices, which look like a silver dollar with a center aperture about one-sixteenth of an inch wide. They slow water flow from 30 gallons per minute to less than one gallon per minute, turning showers into dripping faucets and water sprinklers into lumps only good for stubbing your toes.

The situation is not expected to improve. According to Governor Gavin Newsom, forecasts have California losing 10% of its water in the next 20 years due to global climate change.

The US is hardly alone in facing this crisis. Currently, China and the Horn of Africa are also dealing with severe droughts, while the UK is facing one of its worst droughts ever. But there is some cause for optimism. Last week, President Biden signed the largest climate bill in history just days after India passed an energy conservation bill. Combined, the two countries are responsible for about 18% of global emissions. The biggest contributor to climate change remains China, which puts out almost 30% of all emissions worldwide.

Kim Kardashian, Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Hart Accused of Massive Drought Restriction Violations
Wren Graves

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