#droughtshaming: A social phenomenon whereby California residents give their lavishly-living neighbors flack in times of drought for not keeping their water consumption down.
Magnum P.I. star Tom Selleck: #droughtshaming’s newest target.
The mustachioed actor, most recently known for his role as New York Police Commissioner and Reagan-family patriarch in the CBS show Blue Bloods, is the subject of a complaint filed Monday in Ventura County after he allegedly ordered truckloads of water to be filled up at a fire hydrant in Thousand Oaks, and driven to his ranch, in a nearby water district, upwards of 12 times over recent years, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Selleck, who owns a 60-acre ranch in Westlake Village with his wife, Jillie—complete with horses, dogs, and an avocado ranch—allegedly refused to stop indulging in the hydrant flow despite having received cease-and-desist letters from the Calleguas Municipal Water District in November 2013. The district, which filed the complaint, has spent almost $22,000 on a private investigator to record Selleck’s alleged behavior since then. In addition to seeking compensation for legal costs, the district is asking for a ban against Selleck taking water from the area.
Selleck hasn’t commented publicly.
California is now in its fourth year of an unprecedented drought. In January 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency. Earlier this summer, he introduced strict conservation measures for hotels, restaurants, and lawns, including a rule limiting lawn watering to two days a week. According to the State Water Board, outdoor irrigation makes up nearly half of water consumption in California’s residential communities.
See How California Is Using Its Diminishing Water Resources
The Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades, which bring water 223 miles from the Owens River in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, and 137 miles from the Haiwee Reservoir, are a major source of water for Los Angeles. Seen here in Sylmar, Calif. on May 4, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersThe Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades are seen in Sylmar, Calif. on May 4, 2015. California's snowpack, which generally provides about a third of the state's water, is at its lowest level on record. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersWith the country's most populous state entering the fourth year of a devastating drought, Governor Jerry Brown has ordered an overall 25 percent cut in urban water use though the first statewide mandatory reductions in California's history. The suppliers with the highest per capita water use would have to accept a 36 percent cut. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersA tractor ploughs a field next to a canal in Los Banos, Calif. on May 5, 2015. California water regulators on Tuesday adopted the state's first rules for mandatory cutbacks in urban water use as the region's catastrophic drought enters its fourth year. However, the state's massive agricultural sector, which the Public Policy Institute of California says uses 80 percent of human-related consumption, has been exempted from cutbacks.Lucy Nicholson—ReutersA worker walks through farm fields in Los Banos, Calif. on May 5, 2015. Urban users will be hardest hit, even though they account for only 20 percent of state water consumption.Lucy Nicholson—ReutersApproximately 9 million acres of farmland in California are irrigated, representing roughly 80% of all human water use. But, farm production and food processing only generate about 2% of California’s gross state product, down from about 5% in the early 1960s.Lucy Nicholson—Reuters"In the Central Valley, where most agricultural water use occurs, the failure to manage groundwater sustainably limits its availability as a drought reserve. The increase in perennial crops—which need to be watered every year—has made the region even more vulnerable," the Public Policy Institute of California states. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersCentral Valley farmers have witnessed land sinking by as much as 3 feet, San Francisco Gate reports, as water agencies tap underground reservoirs at unprecedented depths. Water pours into a canal in Los Banos, Calif., May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersLivestock products, including meat, dairy and eggs, account for more than a quarter of California's agricultural sector, a $12.5 billion industry, according to the USDA. Cattle are among the most water-hungry livestock, consuming an average of106 gallons per pound of beef. Cattle are seen at Harris Ranch in Coalinga, Calif. on May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersCalifornia's planting of staple crops such as cotton, corn, oats, barley, wheat, rice, and sunflowers will total 1.72 million acres in 2015, down from 1.90 million acres in 2014, according to data from the National Drought Mitigation Center. A wheat field is seen in Los Banos, Calif. May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersA water protest sign is seen in Los Banos, California, United States May 5, 2015. Central Valley counties suffer some of the highest unemployment rates in the state, topping out at more than 20% in Colusa County, according to the state's Legislative Analyst's Office.Lucy Nicholson—Reuters
