Has the drought-flouting 'Wet Prince of Bel Air' been identified?

The identity of the Bel Air homeowner whose property guzzled almost 12 million gallons of water in 12 months during a devastating California drought may at last have been uncovered.

Last October, the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIR) uncovered records showing that four of the five thirstiest homes in California were in Bel Air, a leafy, ultra-wealthy enclave of Los Angeles. (The fifth was in neighbouring Beverly Hills.)

One water user stood out, however, after having drenched their property in 11.8 million gallons in just one year: enough to fill approximately 1.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools per month, or to supply some 90 average homes.

In the midst of a five-year drought that would only be alleviated by 2016’s wet winter, the unidentified consumer was nicknamed “The Wet Prince of Bel Air”. Yet the city of Los Angeles resisted calls to unmask them, saying it was not in the public interest.

So the CIR delved once more, this time using a combination of satellite imaging, landscape management mathematics and an algorithm used in tracking droughts, to narrow the suspects down to a list of just seven homes in the 6.37-square mile neighbourhood.

The prime suspect has now been named as Jerrold Perenchio, the former CEO of the Univision TV network and movie producer whose credits include the sci-fi classic Blade Runner, set in an environmentally devastated LA of the future.

Mr Perenchio’s home, a 42-room chateau in the French style, has 12 bathrooms and 13 acres of grounds, including large lawns and a half-acre vineyard, which between them would require between 6.1 million and 12.3 million gallons of water per year to maintain.

The house is also famous as the setting for the 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. Mr Perenchio’s representatives declined to comment on the CIR’s findings.

The two other Bel Air homes most likely to consume huge amounts of water belong to film producer Peter Guber and investment banker Gary Winnick.

The CIR’s report, published on its website Reveal, also named four more homeowners in the vicinity whose properties use at least two million gallons of water annually: Wal Mart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie; Beny Alagem, the owner of the Beverly Hilton hotel; Robert Daly, the former chairman of Warner Bros; and couple Bradley and Colleen Bell, a soap opera producer and the US Ambassador to Hungary respectively.

Just two of the seven responded to the CIR’s enquiries, with Daly and Alagem both saying they were taking steps to reduce their water consumption.

Whoever he (or she) is, the so-called “Wet Prince” has not broken the law, though under standard LA water rates, they would have spent an estimated $90,000 per year on water. The original story also incurred the wrath of some eco-vigilante Angelenos, who reportedly went in search of the culprit without success.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill last month cracking down on heavy water users during shortages – and making it easier for them to be identified in future.