EBMUD Releases More Names for Water-Guzzling Hall of Shame

The East Bay Municipal Utility District has released its latest list of what it temperately calls “excessive water users” — 1,098 residential customers who are being penalized for consuming more than 1,000 gallons a day in the midst of the worst drought in the state’s history.

Following the pattern of a list released earlier this month, Thursday’s roster is dominated by residents of hot, dry, wealthy suburbs east of the Berkeley and Oakland hills. Only a handful of the water guzzlers live in the cooler and more plebeian communities along San Francisco Bay.

The two EBMUD lists released so far show that about 480 EBMUD customers in Alamo, a town of fewer than 15,000, have been billed for excessive use — more than 1,000 gallons a day by the district’s definition. EBMUD says about 80 customers in Oakland, the biggest city in the district, with more than 400,000 people, have been hit with the excessive use charge since it took effect July 1.

EBMUD identified the No. 1 most excessive user on today’s list as Diablo’s Kumarakulasingam ‘Suri’ Suriyakumar. He’s chairman, president and CEO of American Reprographics, a Walnut Creek-based company that provides printing and information services to corporate customers. EBMUD says that in the most recent two-month billing period, Suriyakumar used 9,611.8 gallons a day at a 20-acre property on the slopes of Mount Diablo.

Here are the Top 10 heaviest water users on Thursday’s list:

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And here’s a link to a spreadsheet of all 2,206 EBMUD excessive water users whose names have been released so far. The spreadsheet has two pages: one that lists customers by the amount they were billed for and one that shows the names alphabetically by last name.