California drought: Hunt on for state's biggest residential water-waster

Aerial view overlooking landscaping on April 4, 2015 in San Diego, Calif. The drought has hit California hard and the hunt is on for individual water-wasters. Click through to see more stark images the drought. Aerial view overlooking landscaping on April 4, 2015 in San Diego, Calif. The drought has hit California hard and the hunt is on for individual water-wasters. Click through to see more stark images the drought. Photo: Sandy Huffaker, Getty Images Photo: Sandy Huffaker, Getty Images Image 1 of / 74 Caption Close California drought: Hunt on for state's biggest residential water-waster 1 / 74 Back to Gallery

Shame, shame!

In the historic California drought, state residents are using every tool available to reduce water usage. High on the list: Reporting others who waste.

In that shaming spirit, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez has made it his mission to track down the biggest known water-waster in California. The mystery hog is a Bel Air resident consuming 11.8 million gallons per year (a whopping 32,000 gallons per day). In his most recent column, he writes "I now have a drought posse scouring satellite maps, following neighborhood gutter flows and reporting directly to me. I even know someone who has put a camera-equipped drone into service."

Shaming is not a new tactic in the drought fight. California even has a site allowing residents to report water-wasters anonymously.

But many of the districts around California won't release data on individual water abusers. According to Gizmodo, our state is the only one in the West not releasing the data. Blame Silicon Valley tech execs, who lobbied to keep utility data secret after mass shaming in previous droughts.

The Center for Investigative Reporting was able to get districts to release general information on residential water-wasters, and found 4 of the top 10 live in Bel bAir, 3 in Brentwood, 2 in Beverly Hills, and 1 in Westwood. Hence the Los Angeles water witch hunt.

The Bay Area has its share of water-wasters, but nothing like L.A. According the Center of Investigative Reporting story, the East Bay Municipal Utility District has one hog wasting 3.5 million gallons in a year. San Francisco's biggest user was pumping a (relatively) measly 771,000 gallons per year.

Whether or not the Times turns up the state's biggest water hog, is the hunt worthwhile? Should we name individual scofflaws or leave them alone in their shame?