A decades-long problem is once again creating issues for people living in Puerto Rico. Extreme drought conditions, an aging water system and other compounding problems are forcing officials on "La Isla del Encanto" to declare an islandwide state of emergency and implement rationing measures, shutting off water for rotating 48-hour periods in parts of the capital city of San Juan and surrounding areas.
The strategy was implemented Aug. 7, with households split into two groups, each rotating every 48 hours, for an indefinite period.
Although the water crisis in Puerto Rico is nothing new, the current problem can be attributed to multiple factors. As highlighted by The New York Times, a major pipeline ruptured in June, affecting service for tens of thousands of residents in the San Juan area. On top of that, the Caribbean island is experiencing moderate to extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Such are the conditions that Emanuel Rodríguez, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, told The New York Times that the San Juan area experienced its driest July in more than a century.
The country's water infrastructure has also contributed to the issues, as about 65% of the water it produces is lost or goes unbilled, much of it through leaks and aging pipes, CBS News reported.
Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González Colón acknowledged the issues in a statement but said the decision to ration water was implemented because of the weather. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, an estimated 2.8 million people are currently affected by the weather conditions, with the worst conditions in the south of the island and extreme drought warnings in places such as Ponce, Salinas and Juana Díaz.
González Colón urged residents to conserve water and avoid washing cars, watering plants and hosing down driveways, saying those activities "limit our ability to maintain water availability in the metropolitan area."
But as noted in many outlets, residents are not happy with the government's response. Mindy Muñoz, a 45-year-old hotel worker, told The New York Times she has gone 80 consecutive days without running water in her Santurce apartment.
In order to save water, she cooks, cleans and flushes less often and sometimes bathes in vacant hotel rooms at her job.
Alfredo Cuyar, a 66-year-old retired aviation executive who also lives in Santurce, said his water service had been terrible for more than a year, long before the drought.
"Not even after Hurricane Maria did we lose our water service," Cuyar said of the 2017 storm that also devastated the island's electricity grid.
Although the government announced 48-hour rotations, there has been confusion over which households and businesses will be affected and when they will receive water.
For example, the Morcelo area, just south of San Juan, was promised water on Aug. 7, with the supply set to be shut off by Aug. 9, but residents said running water was never available.
"People are uncertain because they know we are in the 48-hour period when we are supposed to have drinking water," community leader Rubén Torres told local newspaper El Nuevo Día. "The water is never going to reach us. We are going to remain under rationing permanently, if not forever," he added.
As conditions keep worsening, experts say relief is still many months away. Rodríguez, the hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said this year's El Niño weather pattern and a mild tropical storm season were making it difficult to predict when enough rain would replenish the country's reservoirs.
"It could be five or six months of below-normal precipitation, not only us but all of the entire northeast Caribbean," he said.
