Apparently, however, some of the celebs that call the state home have been less than helpful.
After the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District commissioned a private security firm to help it identify and penalize those not adhering to new laws governing water usage, the number of violations skyrocketed, and among those cited were a host of big-name celebrities.
The district’s territory spans several locales popular with those in the entertainment industry, and the sting caught Kylie Jenner and Tyga, among others, being a bit too liberal with their H20; a concurrent investigation by NBC4 listed David Hasselhoff, Dr. Dre, and NBA Star Paul Pierce as offenders.
Dave Pedersen, general manager of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District told NBC4 that he has actually reached out to celebs personally, writing letters asking that they “take a stand on conservation.”
Conservation and restraint aren’t necessarily the words our society associates with its celebrities, and the culture of excess and opulence in the L.A. area may make this a tough sell.
With overuse fines so (relatively) menial and celeb salaries so astronomical, appealing to morality and a sense of civic duty may be a better detterent than financial penalties. First-time offenders are fined just $100 under the new conservation laws, a number which rises to a measly $500 by the fourth offense. That’s a drop in an ocean-sized bucket for wealthy entertainers.
These recent reports are part of a string of similar pieces, and Californians can only hope that all the so-called “drought shaming” has a practical effect and gets celebs to scale back their water usage.
