Puerto Rico rations water supplies due to intense drought

What the report says

Puerto Rico has begun rationing water as a severe drought and hot, dry conditions strain supplies across the US territory, BBC World News reported. Authorities are shutting off tap water for 48 hours at a time on a rotating basis for many households, affecting an estimated 180,000 properties in seven regions served by the Carraízo reservoir. Residents in San Juan and elsewhere have been filling containers at tanker trucks as the restrictions take effect, while some communities have reported confusion over when water will be restored.

The BBC said officials have linked the emergency to dry weather, including Puerto Rico’s driest July on record, but the crisis is also being worsened by long-standing infrastructure problems. The island’s water authority says a large share of the water it produces is lost or unbilled because of leaks and aging pipes, and experts have also pointed to sediment in reservoirs as a contributing factor. Governor Jenniffer González said the rationing was imposed after review of reservoir conditions and weather forecasts, and that the situation was driven by weather beyond local control.

The report places the current shortage in the context of earlier rationing episodes in 2015 and 2020. It also notes that Puerto Rico has experienced other severe weather and infrastructure crises in recent years, including damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017. Officials have not said when the current water restrictions will end.