SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico will implement water rationing measures in San Juan and other major cities. More than 180,000 residents will be without water for 48 hours at a time on a rotating basis starting Friday.

The alternating schedule affects customers in the capital and extends to certain neighborhoods in Carolina, Juncos, Gurabo, Trujillo Alto, Canóvanas, and Loíza. Large trucks will distribute potable water during the outages, with priority given to hospitals and residences for older people.

Governor Jenniffer González stated she did not know how long the rationing measures would remain in place. "This situation is out of our hands. Nothing prevents this from worsening," González said.

The restrictions arrive as July was the driest month on record for San Juan in more than 120 years. The capital also recorded its second-hottest July on record, compounding the strain on local water supplies.

Almost 25 percent of Puerto Rico is experiencing a severe drought and another 36 percent is under a moderate drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. Meteorologist María Novoa García noted the broader climatic trends influencing these conditions.

We are seeing that El Niño continues to get stronger, García said. She indicated that rainfall in the next two to three weeks will be at least 50 percent below average.

Dry conditions are predicted to persist until at least September. The 2026 hurricane season is predicted to be milder, offering little immediate relief through tropical storm activity.

Infrastructure challenges predate the current weather patterns. San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero sued the island’s Water and Sewer Authority in late May due to water shortages unrelated to the drought.

Governor Jenniffer González acknowledged that the Water and Sewer Authority’s infrastructure has lacked investment and maintenance for decades. This admission shows the dual pressure of environmental stress and systemic neglect.

Residents in affected areas reported difficulties prior to the official start of the rotating schedule. Community leader Marcia Soler Paris stated that her neighborhood had already been experiencing severe water shortages for months.

"It’s chaos. It’s truly pitiful," Paris said. Her comments reflect the frustration of households managing limited supplies before the formal 48-hour cycles begin.

Healthcare facilities have prepared for the intermittent service interruptions. Tania Conde Sterling, president of the Puerto Rico Association of Health Services Administrators, outlined the institutional response.

"We do not improvise at hospitals. We have manuals of rules and procedures, as well as protocols for every type of scenario," Sterling said. These measures aim to ensure continuous operation despite the utility constraints.

Puerto Rico implemented water rationing measures in 2020 and 2015. In 2015, approximately 400,000 utility customers received water only every third day, a scale larger than the current rotation.

The implementation of rotating water rationing affects more than 180,000 residents across San Juan and surrounding municipalities, representing a significant disruption to daily life and essential services. The convergence of record-breaking heat and drought with long-standing infrastructure deficits creates a complex crisis that officials state may worsen without immediate environmental changes.

Historical precedents from 2015 and 2020 demonstrate that such measures are not isolated incidents but part of a recurring pattern of water scarcity on the island. The current event reflects the vulnerability of the water supply system to both climatic extremes and maintenance gaps, with dry conditions expected to persist through September.

Why It Matters

The convergence of record-breaking drought conditions and decades of infrastructure neglect creates a compound crisis affecting over 180,000 residents. With dry weather predicted to persist until September and no clear end date for rationing, households face prolonged uncertainty regarding access to essential water supplies. This event follows previous rationing measures in 2015 and 2020, showing a recurring pattern of vulnerability where climatic extremes exacerbate systemic maintenance gaps.