The Oakland A’s Billy Beane was among the highest water users in the East Bay during California’s drought emergency this summer, trailing only a retired Chevron executive and a prominent venture capitalist.

Beane, the A’s executive vice president of baseball operations, had the third-highest household total at 5,996 gallons per day, according to public records released Thursday by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The average district customer uses less than 250 gallons a day.

The Danville resident, who was profiled in the hit movie “Moneyball” for his wizardry in building winners on a shoestring budget, also owns a small percentage of the team.

Beane said he has tried to reduce his water use this year but added that he has a large landscaped yard. “I certainly pay for it,” he said.

George Kirkland, of Danville, the retired oil executive, used 12,579 gallons of water per day — about 50 times the district average

He was the largest user among 1,109 customers on a partial list of customers slapped with excess-use penalties for using more than 1,000 gallons of water per day.

Kirkland, a former Chevron vice chairman and executive vice president, said his use soared because of a leak in a water line to the 2 acres of vineyard on his 4-acre lot.

“I didn’t realize I had a leak until I got the water bill,” said Kirkland, who irrigates his vineyard with drip irrigation. “Drip irrigation doesn’t help if you have a leak you didn’t know about.”

He said EBMUD should have a system to alert customers of sudden spikes in water use rather than having to wait two months for a written bill to be mailed out.

Second on the list at 8,091 gallons of water per day was Mark Pine, a longtime venture capitalist living in Alamo.

The majority of the excess users were located in warmer, more affluent Contra Costa County communities with large yards, including Alamo, Danville, Orinda and Lafayette.

EBMUD board members said they adopted the excess water-use penalties to give high users a message to conserve, although some critics have argued wealthy customers will not be deterred by the penalties.

The district released the names and consumption in response to a public records request by this newspaper and other media outlets covering the drought.

EBMUD officials said they are obliged to release the names because state laws require disclosure of information about customers who violate district rules and policies. Other water agencies, including Contra Costa Water District and Alameda County Water District, say they don’t release similar information because they have not instituted excess-use penalties.

The East Bay water board passed excess-use penalties, effective July 1, as part of an effort to meet a state order to cut districtwide water use by 16 percent. The district has set its own bar even higher, seeking a 20 percent cut. The district has exceeded those targets, saving as much as 30 percent in some months.

The list released Thursday night was partial because not all customers are billed at the same time. Billing is spread out over a two-month period.

EBMUD officials said the names released so far represent about a third of the district’s customers. More names are expected to be released later this year.

District spokeswoman Abby Figueroa said the district mailed written notices before summer to warn customers with high use that they would be penalized if they failed to stay within the 1,000-gallon daily limit.

Database producer Daniel Willis contributed to this story