Puerto Rico enforces water rationing amid severe drought

Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rico residents have been forced to wait 48 hours before water reaches their tap as officials cut the supply in an attempt to manage a vicious drought covering 68% of the island.

The water authority explains that the island’s infrastructure suffers from leaks and ageing pipes that lose 65 % of the produced water, while the main Carraízo reservoir has almost dried up, prompting Governor Jenniffer González to split households into alternating 48‑hour blocks.

The measure first reached the capital, San Juan, and later expanded to more than 180 000 properties across seven regions. Residents queue at water‑truck bays to fill containers, with some complaining of confusion over which blocks are served.

Past rationing in 2015 and 2020 had reduced supply to a third day for 400 000 households; the current strategy aims to shorten that to two days but depends on weather and infrastructure repairs.

Experts warn that sediment buildup in the reservoir and the lack of rain are making the crisis deeper, and that climate change may be making extreme weather events more likely, as seen after Hurricane Maria in 2017.

The federal government has pledged assistance, but no timeline for restoring normal water service has been announced, leaving residents uncertain about when the rationing will cease.