‘Drought Shaming' Appears To Be An Effective Policy

New evidence suggests that “drought shaming” may actually be an effective tool for changing behaviors and promoting water conservation.

In Beverly Hills, officials tried a bevy of traditional ways to promote conservation before they tried the shame game. Previously, they had tried education, restrictions, and written notices for water wasters, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Despite those efforts, the community missed its savings target every month since June, when a statewide 25 percent reduction in urban water consumption became mandatory amid the punishing drought. As a result, state regulators fined the city, saying publicly that its water wasters ‘should be ashamed,’” the report said.

Beverly Hills residents who wasted water began to receive letters. The letters were accessed by the Times through a records request and the names of the water wasters became public.

“The letters went to entertainment industry figures such as comedian Amy Poehler, prominent real estate developers such as Geoff Palmer and other notable names. An estate owned by philanthropist and former media mogul David Geffen used an average of about 27,000 gallons of water a day between June 2 and Aug. 2 — roughly 60 times what an average Los Angeles family uses and about 9,000 gallons more per day than what Geffen was allowed,” the report said.

Shame appears to be persuasive. Beverly Hills managed to cut its water use by 26 percent over baseline levels in January, the best showing it’s had so far.

City spokeswoman Therese Kosterman weighed in, per the Times.

"We believe that the penalty surcharges have had an impact," she said. "Many different tools are necessary in order to achieve… deep cuts in water conservation."

Beverly Hills’ failure to conserve last year raised questions about why this rich community was failing to heed the warnings of state officials about the ceaseless drought ravaging the state. Virtually the entire state is languishing in abnormally dry conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Beverly Hills residents endured “drought shaming” from the state when it failed to meet conservation expectations.

The upscale area was “among four California cities whose water utilities have been fined for not forcing residents to conserve enough water during California's unrelenting four-year drought,” Reuters reported last year, citing California State Water Resources Board officials. “The wealthy Los Angeles area municipality was fined $61,000, making it the only community not located in a desert to be assessed penalties.”

State officials were not impressed. Cris Carrigan, director of the water board's enforcement office, was blunt about the results: “To those who aren’t [conserving], and are wasting water, I’d say yes, you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

The cities of Indio and Redlands and the Coachella Valley Water District also received $61,000 fines for failing to conserve enough water, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing officials.

Across California, public figures have been outed for water wasting. A couple of the best-known offenders: Kylie Jenner of the famous Kardashian clan and the rapper Tyga. The Hollywood Reporter explained:

Among the June culprits, according to documentation obtained by The Hollywood Reporter through a state Public Records Act request: Kylie Jenner, who lives in a $2.7 million, 5,000-square-foot Mediterranean mansion in Calabasas’ guard-gated Oaks enclave, as well as her hip-hop paramour Tyga (aka Michael Stevenson), who rents a $10.2 million, 12,000-square-foot Tuscan nouveau villa a few blocks away.

Sometimes water overseers contact famous residents in an effort to rein them in. Kim Kardashian was sent outreach by Dave Pedersen, general manager of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District which serves Calabasas and Hidden Hills.

“[He said] his agency has been patrolling the areas in the community looking to stop water waste — including gated neighborhoods,” the report said.

For more on the California drought, visit Water Online’s Water Scarcity Solutions Center.