Some of Los Angeles' biggest stars are getting caught in the crossfire after being convicted of excessive water use amid a severe drought emergency across Southern California.

Kim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney are among the worst offenders of the act in Southern California,

Mike McNutt, a spokesman for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District , told

NPR .

The two sisters have received "excess notices" from the water utility, which serves the affluent towns of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village.

"These notices are issued to county residents who have exceeded their monthly water usage budget set by the department at least four times," McNutt said.

And the celebrities of the Kardashian family are not the only ones.

Comedian Kevin Hart, former NBA star Dwyane Wade and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, and Sylvester Stallone have also continued to exceed water supply limits despite repeated warnings and fines.

Now, the water department can install flow-limiting devices that can reduce showers that pour into a single stream and will almost certainly turn the rolling lawns that surround their respective mansions.

The violations were first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

On Tuesday, McNutt confirmed the data, adding that, in total, more than 1,600 residents are breaking the rules.

“I noticed that the district is 100 percent dependent on water imported from the Sierra Nevada mountains 400 miles away.

We don't have underground water, we don't have other alternative sources to extract," he added.

McNutt said the Kardashian sisters have exceeded their official water usage allowance by 150 percent or more for several months since water conservation efforts were first implemented late last year.

According to the utility's calculation, he said, Kim Kardashian's two neighboring lots in Hidden Hills exceeded the water use limit by about 232,000 gallons (1,054 cubic meters).

Her sister, Kourtney, who lives in Calabasas, used up another 101,000 gallons (459 cubic meters) of excess.

Combined, this amount of water would fill half of an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Dwyane Wade and wife Gabrielle Union appear to be starting to make some progress in curbing water use on their property in June, spending 90,000 gallons (409 cubic meters).

But their May bill was shocking — they used an extra 489,000 liters (2,223 cubic meters) of water that month because of a pool malfunction, the couple said in a statement to the Times.

Meanwhile, a representative for actor Sylvester Stallone and his model wife, Jennifer Flavin, told the Times that their property has many large, mature fruit trees that would be endangered without adequate irrigation.

In June, the couple used 230,000 liters of excess water – more than 533 per cent of their shared budget.

Kevin Hart's 26-acre property in Calabasas also used more than 117,000 gallons more than is budgeted for such a plot.

McNutt explained that the department has a formula for calculating the fines for those who flagrantly evade conservation guidelines.

But he admits they are no barrier to the rich and famous.

"For celebrities, musicians or athletes who all live in the area, the monetary fines will be meaningless to them because it doesn't matter.

They have a lot of money and if they want to, they can spend $5,000 (€5,007) a month on a water bill," he said.

Indeed, Kim Kardashian, whose empire now includes an underwear line called Skims, was billed roughly $2,325 (€2,333) for her overuse.

That's the equivalent of about 38 bodysuits from her line, which retail for $62 (€62.21) a piece.

Hart's fine for June is about $1,170 (€1,174), less than the cost of three second-row tickets to the comedian's show in Chicago on Thursday.

(Single tickets sell for $382/€383 each, plus surcharges).

Now the water utility wants to hit people where it really hurts.

According to McNutt, that would mean installing a flow-limiting device that would automatically reduce outdoor water use by 70 percent of capacity.

"People who prioritize lush, green landscaping over conservation need to "realize that what they're doing is taking water away from someone who may be thousands and miles and miles away... who needs it for cooking , cleaning or washing,” McNutt said.

/Telegraph/