OSHPD Adopts Emergency Water Curbs

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) has issued new regulations to hospitals intended to conserve water.

The agency said in a statement that the regulations dovetail with a recent executive order issued by Gov. Jerry Brown that asks the State Water Resources Control Board to achieve a 25% reduction in potable water usage in cities by the end of February, 2016. California is experiencing its worst drought for at least the past 1,200 years, according to published reports.

The regulations do not impact the use of water inside hospitals or skilled nursing facilities. They instead focus on the use of water and irrigation on landscaped and other grounds on the exteriors of hospitals and other facilities overseen by OSHPD. 

However, OSHPD could deny building permits to hospital and nursing home operators if they do not present plans to curb exterior water use. 

The agency’s emergency regulations will amend what is known as the 2013 California Green Building Standards Code, or “CALGreen.”

“Everyone in California is affected by this drought and all of us have to do our part to conserve  water,” said OSHPD Director Robert P. David. “Improved water efficiency standards will help ensure that hospitals and skilled nursing facilities are doing their part to reduce water usage  statewide. These standards will also help make California more resilient to droughts in the future.”