The worst part is this:

officials refuse to fine builders of massive 6.2 million-square-foot facility over unauthorized water use

I'm sorry, what? Okay, I'm in the UK, but if I'm just two months late with my water bill (which happens as Thames Water is the most un-fucking-reliable piece of shit money grabber company who can't even deal with a proper billing software to ensure people get their bills on time!), I get fined up to 50% of my bill amount, and within 3 months of not paying, I can get dragged in front of a judge for non-payment. But this one company illegally uses a shitton more water and they don't even get prosecuted for it, or fined, nothing?

Now, I live alone and travel a bunch, so my water usage is somewhat low - about 5 to 10 cubic meters a month (depending on season, since I'm billed biannually, I see that meter readings are between 30 and 60 cubic meters per 6 month periods). 29 million gallons are approximately 110 THOUSAND cubic meters. That's the equivalent of my water use for over 1200 years!

So I guess the deciding factor is usage. If I don't pay a regular bill I get fined, if I somehow manage to use 1000x more water then I'm off the hook?