The luxurious lifestyle of the rich and famous is often accompanied by pristine swimming pools and magnificent gardens, but a recent study has found that these extravagances are contributing to water shortages in some areas. As countries face increasing pressure on their water resources, it’s becoming vital to examine the ways in which the wealthy use and consume water in their daily lives. In this article, we discuss the findings of the study and explore the impact of lavish gardens and swimming pools on our dwindling global water supply.
A new study published in the journal Nature Sustainability has found that urban water crises that have plagued cities can be attributed to socioeconomic disparity, climate change, and population growth. The study discovered that wealthy residents tend to use more water than their lower-income counterparts, with the wealthiest residents using approximately 12 times more water than low-income households. The authors of the study looked at Cape Town, South Africa, and found that despite only accounting for 14% of the population, the wealthiest residents consumed over half of the water supply. The study also found that much of the water used by these groups was for nonessential needs such as irrigation, swimming pools, and water fixtures.
Severe water shortages have affected more than 80 metropolitan areas around the world in the last two decades, with impacts expected to increase in the next few decades, affecting over a billion people. Wealthy users’ consumption of resources means that more people are left without water, and the problem affects urban areas worldwide.
The study reveals that even though apartheid ended over 25 years ago, Cape Town is still segregated into different social classes, and this characteristic proved convenient for the researchers in tracking which income groups used what amount of water. Further, the city faced a significant drought between 2015 to 2017, which led the city to the brink of “Day Zero,” when water was believed to entirely dry up. During the drought, those residents with higher incomes turned to private sources, while low-income residents faced high water costs and struggled to obtain basic demands such as cooking and laundry.
The study recommends targeting solutions and trade-offs in urban water management over solutions like progressive pricing or infrastructure updates. The authors suggest focusing on individual consumption before considering building new dams and charging for excessive water usage, such as using water for non-essential needs like swimming pools. The study’s authors believe that policymakers should rethink their urban policies and take a more targeted approach to water management in cities to avoid the misuse of water resources and the associated inequality.
Although the study only focused on Cape Town as a case study, the authors argue that the findings can be applied to any city worldwide that has dealt with or is dealing with a water crisis. Even cities with access to seemingly unlimited resources, like Los Angeles, face similar inequalities in water usage. However, policymakers’ solutions are limited, as wealthy residents may disregard monetary penalties for excessive water usage.
In the case of Los Angeles, celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Kevin Hart, and Sylvester Stallone were called out for exceeding water usage fines to the point of paying no attention to them. Some even suggested infrastructural changes like flow restriction devices installed to alleviate the problem. These measures may be more effective in curbing excessive water usage.
