At a Glance
- Drought conditions have expanded rapidly in Puerto Rico since May.
- Water rationing will begin on Thursday for about 140,000 homes and businesses.
- A lack of reservoir dredging has also been blamed on water shortages.
Concerns about water shortages from a rapidly growing drought in Puerto Rico have prompted Gov. Wanda Vázquez to issue a state of emergency.
Nearly 60% of Puerto Rico was in drought on June 23, according to the U.S. drought monitor. Severe drought, the second-worst category, was affecting about 26% of the U.S territory.
The drought is widespread in much of eastern and southern parts of Puerto Rico, including San Juan and Ponce.
Just over a month ago, on May 12, there were no areas in Puerto Rico classified in drought, but a few spots were abnormally dry.
The drought has grown because rainfall deficits in parts of the U.S. territory are running 4 to 8 inches below average over the past 30 days, the drought monitor report said. Dry air associated with bursts of Saharan dust moving across the Caribbean has squelched any widespread rain chances recently, but there have been some hit-or-miss storms.
Water rationing will begin on Thursday for about 140,000 homes and businesses, according to the Associated Press. The rationing will cut off water to those customers for 24 hours every other day.
Some communities in northeast Puerto Rico have already been affected by water rationing since earlier in the month.
Customers who receive water from the Carraízo reservoir will be affected by the new water rationing, the AP said. It's one 11 reservoirs the government operates.
Local officials have also taken other measures to provide water such as turning on wells and changing the water source for more than 30,000 Carraízo clients to a different reservoir.
Water shortages might also be tied to a lack of reservoir dredging, which would help eliminate some water losses, according to the AP.
Doriel Pagán, executive director of Puerto Rico’s Water and Sewer Authority, told the AP that the utility company is talking with FEMA about a $300 million dredging investment. But she said the process is long because studies need to be done for FEMA to approve the project.
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