Puerto Rico announces emergency water rationing as drought worsens

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico announced water rationing measures on Thursday as a drought grips the U.S. territory , worsening chronic water shortages that have forced the governor to declare a state of emergency.

Thousands of people in the island’s northeast region face 48-hour rationing periods from Friday, said Luis González, executive president of the island’s water and sewer authority.

The rationing program will affect several communities in the cities of Canovanas and Rio Grande as temperatures keep rising.

“There’s just not enough water,” he said, adding that rationing will likely be extended to other areas.

González blamed a lack of rain, although severe water shortages began affecting some of the island’s most populated areas months before the drought began, with officials yet to identify the problem.

Those outages prompted the mayor of San Juan to sue the island’s Water and Sewer Authority in late May, with Gov. Jenniffer González acknowledging that the agency’s infrastructure has lacked investment and maintenance for decades.

Almost 40,000 customers were left without water last month, leading González to activate the National Guard. That outage was not tied to the current drought.

The U.S. Drought Monitor says 14% of Puerto Rico is currently under a severe drought and another 59% under a moderate drought, up from 18% in late June. Around 2.3 million people out of Puerto Rico’s 3.2 million inhabitants are currently living in a region affected by drought, it estimates.

Previous droughts have forced Puerto Rico to implement strict rationing measures. In 2016, some 400,000 utility customers received water only every third day.

Those hit by water shortages have organized protests, while a growing number of legislators are demanding answers.

“What’s happening with the Puerto Rico Water and Sewer Authority cannot be attributed solely to the drought,” said Rep. Domingo J. Torres. “What we’re seeing is a management that improvises, that reacts only when the crisis is already upon us, and that has failed to present a clear plan to guarantee access to drinking water.”

Torres filed a formal request on Wednesday for information about what actions the water and sewer authority is taking to confront the drought and ensure access to potable water, among other things.

A spokesman for Puerto Rico’s water and sewer agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Legislators also held a public hearing this week on the financial impact of water shortages on an island with a nearly 40% poverty rate.