Drought-Stricken Californians Infuriated After One Resident Used 11.8 Million Gallons Of Water In Single Year

One Bel Air resident is causing outrage among drought-stricken Californians after it was discovered that the drought denier used 11.8 million gallons of water in a single year. That is 90 times the average household consumption during a water conservation effort, or the equivalent of 20,000 toilet flushes every single day. The resident has been dubbed the “Wet Prince of Bel Air,” and has caused a number of people to form a “drought posse” determined to find out the identity of the top water waster in California.

The Daily Mail reports that Los Angeles residents were infuriated when they found out that one resident of a wealthy neighborhood had used 11.8 million gallons of water in a single year, as the state suffered from a severe drought. Despite water conservation efforts in the community and fines for excessive consumption, the Bel Air resident continued using obscene amounts of water throughout the year. It was calculated that the residence owner would have spent over $90,000 in water bills for the year. However, the price tag didn’t seem to stop the water hog. Now, a self-proclaimed “drought posse” has set out to uncover the real name of the “Wet Prince of Bel Air.”

The Center for Investigative Reporting is responsible for giving the water-waster the nickname of “Wet Prince of Bel Air” and says that they are not even sure how it would be possible to use nearly 12 million gallons of water in a single year, even with multiple swimming pools. The reporters say they will attempt to identify California’s most wasteful water user, but says the City of Los Angeles will not freely provide the information, only the dirty details.

“The city of Los Angeles won’t identify this 11.8 million-gallon user, whose water bill for the 12 months ending April 1 likely topped $90,000, according to the Department of Water and Power’s rate structure. Nor has the city taken any steps to stop this customer – or scores of other mega-users – from pumping enormous quantities of water during a statewide crisis now in its fourth year.”

Sadly for the drought-stricken state, it appears that the city has no plans of forcing mega-million dollar mansion owners to abide by the strict water restrictions. Instead, the wealthy homeowners are fined and continue to use as much water as they can afford, which in this case amounts to 11.8 million gallons. In fact, the mega water wasters are not alone. It was reported that 365 different California residential homes pumped out more than 1 million gallons of water over the year, despite strict water consumption restrictions. These residents chose to pay the $500 fine, which is almost nothing to the uber wealthy, instead of following restrictive guidelines.

It is noted that the city has the option to turn off water to residences that repeatedly use too much water, but there has yet to be a case reported of the city actually following through with the cutoff. Instead, it seems that the city will allow residents to use whatever amount of water they are willing to pay for in fees and fines.

So, which areas had the biggest water wasters? According to the reports, Bel Air was the worst, followed by Beverly Hills.

“In addition to the state’s biggest user, Bel Air had 19 customers pumping more than 2.8 million gallons per year. In nearby Beverly Hills, the famously upscale ZIP code of 90210 had 32 customers using 2.8 million gallons or more.”

Do you think cities in California should do more to curb mega-mansion owners from wasting water? After a set number of violations, should the city consider turning off water to the residence until conservation guidelines are agreed upon? What do you think the “Wet Prince of Bel Air” used all those 11.8 million gallons of water on?

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