One of the toughest parts of living in California is the long stretches of time when rain seemingly refuses to fall. Southern California has faced its third year of drought, forcing a strong need to conserve water. Unfortunately, some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports have been using more of their allotment, as husband and wife Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union have been forced to respond after going 1400% over their water allotment.
According to The LA Times, more than 2,000 customers have been issued “notices of exceedance” recently by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District for surpassing their monthly water budgets. NBA star Dwyane Wade and his wife Gabrielle Union are among those who have received this notice after they exceeded their allocated water budget by 1,400% (or 90,000 gallons) in June, and they have issued a statement:
[We have] taken drastic steps to reduce water usage in accordance with the new city guidelines and have since we moved into our home. We have been doing everything we can to rectify the situation and will continue to go to extensive lengths to resolve the issue.
In their Hidden Hills Property, Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union, known for her roles in Bring it On, Deliver Us From Eva, and Think Like a Man, received notices and said their reason for exceeding water came from problems with their pool. Their excess water usage in June was actually lower than back in May when they went overbudget by over 489,000 gallons – more than any other customer.
Properties around the area have had to make changes to conserve water like the installation of flow restrictor devices. The “Stage 3” restrictions that were imposed by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District at the start of June are intended to deliver a 50% reduction in water consumption. In their statement, Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union explained what they plan to do to ensure they don’t use up this much water again:
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.
Other celebrities who have used an excessive amount of water include Sylvester Stallone in his 2.26-acre Hidden Hills property using 533% more than its allocated budget. His attorney, Marty Singer, has defended the Rocky actor in how watering is necessary for the 500 mature trees he has on his property.
The Kardashians have also been accused of disobeying drought rules, with Kim exceeding by 232,000 gallons and Kourtney by 101,000 gallons. Kevin Hart was also on the list in June for his 519% increase in water allotment, per The LA Times. It can be a tough situation to keep your plants and trees are alive when you have little water budget to do it.
Aside from explaining eggplant emojis to her “blessed husband,” Gabrielle Union has been living her best life continuing to take on a number of projects. She’ll be in the 2022 upcoming movie The Inspection, which will be released by A24 on November 18. Union also has a role in the third season of the AppleTV+ series Truth Be Told.
An upcoming Netflix movie is also be in the works for her as she is starring in and co-producing the Tia Williams novel adaptation The Perfect Find. Maybe if Bring It On gets a follow-up, Gabrielle Union can make her killer sequel idea a reality, and her character can have a teenage daughter following in her footsteps. I would definitely be on board for that.
Las Virgenes spokesman Mike McNutt believes that in the end, the responsibility falls on the land owner to follow water allotment rules in order to be an example to all of the other Southern Californians. Hopefully, in the months to come, more celebrities will band together to ensure that water allotment rules are followed for water conservation efforts to succeed.