Puerto Rico to start 48-hour water rationing as drought worsens
Around 180,000 customers in San Juan and nearby municipalities will face 48-hour water cuts amid a record-dry July and a severe island-wide drought.
Beginning Friday, water service will be suspended for 48 hours for more than 180,000 customer accounts in San Juan and parts of Carolina, Juncos, Gurabo, Trujillo Alto, Canovanas and Loiza, according to local officials. The alternating schedule may be extended to 72-hour periods if conditions do not improve.
Governor Jenniffer González said the situation is beyond the government’s control and warned it could worsen.
"This situation is out of our hands," she said, adding that weather conditions are to blame.
July recorded only 0.54 inches of rain in San Juan, the lowest total since 1899, and was the second hottest month on record. The U.S. Drought Monitor indicates that nearly a quarter of the island is under severe drought, with another 36 percent experiencing moderate drought.
National Weather Service meteorologist María Novoa García noted that El Niño is strengthening and that rainfall over the next two to three weeks is expected to be at least 50 % below average, keeping the region dry through September.
Luis González Delgado, head of Puerto Rico’s water and sewer system, said large trucks will deliver potable water, prioritising hospitals and elderly residents. Health-services leader Tania Conde Sterling urged calm, stating that hospitals have established protocols for such scenarios.
"We do not improvise at hospitals," she said.
The rationing follows months of intermittent service, with some neighborhoods reporting over 100 days of water outages this year. Mayor Miguel Romero has sued the island’s Water and Sewer Authority over infrastructure failures, and Rep. Domingo J. Torres García warned he would seek court action if the agency does not explain the chronic problems. Federal grants exceeding $7 billion have been allocated for water-system upgrades, but many projects remain unfinished.