U.S. Declares Drought Disaster for 26 Puerto Rican Municipalities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a drought disaster declaration on Wednesday for 26 of Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities, including Cabo Rojo, Ponce, Yauco, Aibonito and Lares. The measure allows farmers and agricultural producers in the affected areas to apply for emergency loans.

Governor Jenniffer González said she had formally requested the declaration more than two weeks earlier, noting that the needs of farmers had been highlighted from the start. > "From the very beginning, we made clear the needs of our farmers," she said.

Puerto Rico Agriculture Secretary Irving Rodríguez called the declaration "an important step" and urged producers to document their losses.

The island faces extreme drought conditions, with more than a third of its territory classified as experiencing extreme drought and another 30 percent under severe drought. July recorded the driest month in San Juan in over 120 years and the second-hottest.

Local farmers report severe impacts. Naia Seda, who operates a 15-acre farm growing avocados, plantains, lemons and cassava, said the land has developed deep cracks and crops are withering. She noted that irrigation deliveries to her farm and hundreds of others in Lajas have been reduced from three times a week to once a week.

Technical assistance provider Fello Pérez said hydroponic and soil-based vegetable growers are among the hardest hit, while fruit growers see premature fruit drop. Livestock producers also face feed shortages, leading some to sell young bulls at low prices.

In response to the water shortage, Governor González declared a state of emergency in late July and activated the National Guard to transport, distribute and purify water. Early August water-rationing measures were introduced in San Juan and six other cities, affecting more than 180,000 customers on a rotating 48-hour schedule, with priority given to hospitals and elderly residents.

Meteorologists attribute the prolonged drought partly to the El Niño warming cycle, which has similarly affected the U.S. Virgin Islands. The federal government also declared a drought disaster for St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix earlier this month.

Puerto Rico continues to grapple with aging water infrastructure. San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero sued the island’s Water and Sewer Authority in May over chronic water-pressure problems, and the governor acknowledged decades of underinvestment in the system. Previous rationing efforts occurred in 2020 and 2015, when about 400,000 customers received water only every third day.