Right-wing media's bogus claim that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will monitor hotel guests' use of the shower has made the jump to Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) 2016 presidential campaign.    

The EPA recently awarded a $15,000 grant to student researchers at the University of Tulsa to allow them to develop a device that will “assist hotel guest[s] in modifying their behavior to help conserve water.” Conservative media seized on the news to claim the EPA wants to “spy on” people in the shower. Fox News' Heather Nauert claimed that hotel guests should “forget about taking a long, hot shower on vacation, and if you think you're doing it in private, well, you might want to think again” while on-screen text during the segment read “They're Always Watching! EPA To Start Monitoring Showers At Hotels.” And Rush Limbaugh asserted that the EPA would not “stop at hotels. You're gonna have one of these [devices] in your house.”

Sen. Paul appears to be parroting right-wing media's false claim that the EPA is going to monitor water usage in people's showers. According to National Journal, Paul's campaign sent out a fundraising email on Tuesday claiming the "'EPA is announcing it wants to use our tax dollars to track how long hotel guests spend in the shower so they can start working to 'modify their behavior'!" The Journal also noted that the grant has similarly “been attacked in conservative circles and was subject to coverage by several conservative websites and news outlets last month.” 

However, the claim has been thoroughly debunked. The EPA is simply supporting research to create a central wireless device that would supply information about guests' overall shower water consumption to hotels, which could help companies reduce waste and save money. EPA deputy press secretary Laura Allen told The Washington Free Beacon, “Let us be very clear: EPA is not monitoring how much time hotel guests spend in the shower.” EPA's Liz Purchia added to the Journal:

The marketplace, not EPA, will decide if there is a demand for this type of technology. EPA is encouraging creativity with water-conservation efforts. It's up to hotels to determine their water usage and whether technology like what's being developed at the University of Tulsa is helpful to them.

The University of Tulsa students' research could help reduce some of the millions of gallons of water wasted each year by hotel guests -- a valuable goal, considering the West Coast is currently experiencing a catastrophic drought.