SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — In response to a worsening drought, Puerto Rico is set to begin water rationing in its capital, San Juan, along with other major urban areas. The drought continues to tighten its grip on the U.S. territory, with little sign of relief.
Beginning Friday, more than 180,000 residents will experience water outages lasting for 48-hour intervals. This alternating schedule is part of Puerto Rico’s urgent attempt to manage the intensifying crisis as extreme heat advisories remain in effect.
“This situation is out of our hands,” stated Governor Jenniffer González on Tuesday, attributing the crisis to persistent weather patterns. “There is nothing to prevent this from becoming more severe.”
July marked the driest July recorded in over 120 years for San Juan, and it was the second hottest month ever for Puerto Rico’s capital.
The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that almost a quarter of Puerto Rico is enduring severe drought conditions, while an additional 36% of the area is facing moderate drought.
Experts have predicted a milder 2026 hurricane season, with dry conditions persisting until at least September, said María Novoa García, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan.
Rainfall in the next two to three weeks will be at least 50% below average, she added.
“We are seeing that El Niño continues to get stronger,” she said, referencing a natural warming cycle.
In addition to affecting parts of San Juan, the rationing will extend to certain neighborhoods in the cities of Carolina, Juncos, Gurabo, Trujillo Alto, Canovanas and Loiza.
The governor said she doesn’t know how long the rationing measures will remain in place.
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, but thousands of Puerto Ricans were already experiencing water shortages up to a year before for unknown reasons.
Among them is 61-year-old community leader Marcia Soler París. She 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.
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.