Puerto Rico to Start Water Rationing as Record San Juan Drought Fuels Shortages

Puerto Rico’s worsening water crisis has reached a critical point, with the U.S. territory preparing to impose rationing as a stubborn drought shows no sign of easing. In San Juan and surrounding communities, residents have endured more than 100 days without dependable water service.

Beginning Friday morning, more than 180,000 customer accounts will lose water for 48-hour stretches under an alternating rationing schedule, as officials race to address the deepening shortage. The restrictions will affect parts of San Juan as well as selected neighborhoods in Carolina, Juncos, Gurabo, Trujillo Alto, Canovanas and Loiza.

Authorities have not provided a timeline for when the water rationing will be lifted, and they have cautioned that outages could be extended to 72 hours at a time if conditions deteriorate further.

“This situation is out of our hands,” Gov. Jenniffer González said late Tuesday, pointing to the severe weather conditions driving the shortage. “Nothing prevents this from worsening.”

San Juan recorded its driest July in more than 120 years — dating back to 1899 — with only 0.54 inches of rain. The month was also the capital’s second hottest on record. Across Puerto Rico, nearly 25% of the island is now under severe drought, while another 36% is experiencing moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

María Novoa García, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan, said experts have forecast a milder 2026 hurricane season, while dry conditions are expected to persist at least through September.

Rainfall over the next two to three weeks is projected to come in at least 50% below normal, she added.

“We are seeing that El Niño continues to get stronger,” Novoa García said, referring to the natural warming pattern that can influence weather across the region.

Luis González Delgado, president of Puerto Rico’s water and sewer system, said large trucks would distribute potable water, with priority given to hospitals and residences for older people.

Tania Conde Sterling, president of Puerto Rico’s Association of Health Services Administrators, called for calm on Wednesday, saying that hospitals and other health centers are prepared for the rationing.

“We do not improvise at hospitals,” she said. “We have manuals of rules and procedures, as well as protocols for every type of scenario.”

The drought is worsening a crisis that many families have already endured for months with communities in San Juan having documented 118 days this year with repeated water outages. Service has been intermittent and has shut off for full days and multiple days at a time. Residents have also complained about very low pressure.

A 61-year-old community leader, Marcia Soler París, said Wednesday that the rationing measures don’t really mean much because her neighborhood already was experiencing severe water shortages for months.

“It’s chaos,” she said, questioning how Puerto Ricans are supposed to prepare for rationing when they don’t have water now. “It’s truly pitiful.”

She worries most about bedridden and older people who are unable to haul heavy water buckets to their homes and apartments.

The lack of water unrelated to the drought prompted San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero to sue the island’s Water and Sewer Authority in late May, with the governor acknowledging the agency’s infrastructure has lacked investment and maintenance for decades.

More than $7 billion in federal grants and low-interest loans have been awarded for water infrastructure, with hundreds of projects still in development.

Puerto Rico Rep. Domingo J. Torres García warned on Wednesday that he would go to court if he doesn’t receive a response from the water and sewer authority about what’s causing the chronic water problems.

“The people have the right to know what is happening, what the plans are and what concrete actions are being taken to address this crisis,” he said.

Puerto Rico previously implemented rationing measures in 2020 and in 2015, when some 400,000 utility customers received water only every third day.

Lilia Luciano

contributed to this report.