The revelation was as shocking as it was incomprehensible: Someone in Bel-Air used 11.8 million gallons of water in a single year. Appalled officials had no choice but to react when they found out last fall. Councilman Paul Koretz called the consumption “a slap in the face to neighbors” who had conserved during four years of drought and demanded that the Department of Water and Power explain how it planned to deal with such “irresponsible” users.

Now, more than five months later, the city’s water utility has unveiled its plan to punish its most wasteful residents with hefty fines.