Puerto Rico has announced new water rationing measures as worsening drought conditions intensify the island’s ongoing water crisis, prompting officials to take additional conservation steps under an existing state of emergency.
Beginning today Friday July 17th, thousands of residents in northeastern Puerto Rico will face 48-hour water service interruptions, according to Luis González, executive president of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA).
The restrictions will impact several communities in the municipalities of Canóvanas and Río Grande, where rising temperatures and limited rainfall have strained water supplies.
“There’s simply not enough water,” González said, warning that the rationing program could be expanded to additional areas if dry conditions persist.
Officials attribute the current shortages largely to below-average rainfall. However, water service disruptions had already been affecting some of Puerto Rico’s most populated communities months before the drought intensified, and authorities have yet to determine the underlying cause of those earlier outages.
The recurring water problems led San Juan’s mayor to file a lawsuit against PRASA in late May. Gov. Jenniffer González has acknowledged that decades of underinvestment and inadequate maintenance have left the island’s water infrastructure in poor condition.
Last month, nearly 40,000 customers lost access to water, prompting the governor to activate the National Guard. Officials said that outage was unrelated to the current drought.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, about 14% of Puerto Rico is experiencing severe drought, while another 59% is under moderate drought conditions. The affected area has expanded significantly since late June, with an estimated 2.3 million of the island’s 3.2 million residents now living in drought-impacted regions.
Puerto Rico has faced similar challenges before. During a major drought in 2016, roughly 400,000 utility customers received running water only once every three days.
As water shortages continue, frustrated residents have staged protests, and lawmakers are pressing officials for answers. Legislators also held a public hearing this week to examine the economic impact of the water crisis, particularly in a territory where nearly 40% of the population lives below the poverty line.
