Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board (Junta de Supervisión Fiscal) has not immediately granted Governor Jenniffer González Colón’s request to use $9,688,345 from the Emergency Reserve to evaluate, rehabilitate and reactivate five existing wells in the Dorado area, which would let the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (AAA) extract water for distribution in the metropolitan area. Board director Robert Mujica communicated the decision in a letter to the governor this Friday, acknowledging that "the current drought constitutes an emergency" but stating that several issues in the request require clarification to ensure the proposed projects address the population’s immediate needs in real time.
Rather than an outright rejection, the Board is requesting more information to fully assess the wells’ feasibility, the time needed to bring them online, the benefits they would produce, and especially long-term maintenance costs. The Board immediately requested a meeting with leadership from AAA, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA), the Office of Management and Budget, the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority, and other relevant government entities.
Mujica’s letter noted that reactivating the wells could generate operational, maintenance and monitoring costs extending beyond the current drought emergency, which the government’s presentation indicates would be absorbed by AAA’s certified budget or handled through ordinary Fiscal Plan and budgeting processes.