Overview
- Rotating rationing will begin Friday and will cut running water for up to 48 hours at a time for more than 180,000 customers in San Juan and selected neighborhoods of Carolina, Juncos, Gurabo, Trujillo Alto, Canóvanas and Loíza.
- The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority will deploy large tanker trucks to deliver potable water with priority for hospitals and residences for older people, and officials warned the duration of restrictions is unknown.
- Officials blamed an unprecedented dry July in San Juan and shrinking reservoirs, with the U.S. Drought Monitor showing roughly 25% of the island in severe drought and another 36% in moderate drought.
- Residents report months-long unreliable service before the rationing, San Juan’s mayor sued the water authority in late May, and the governor has acknowledged decades of underinvestment and poor maintenance in the system.
- The measures heighten immediate risks for bedridden and elderly people who cannot haul water and could persist into September if the usual late-August rains do not materialize, repeating patterns seen in the 2015 and 2020 rationing episodes.