Drought Watch: 60 Municipios in Drought, Extreme in 36 Municipios

The US Drought Monitor map dated September 15 puts 60 of 78 municipios in at least moderate drought (D1). The worst tier, D3 extreme drought, covers 36 of them, led by Canóvanas, Carolina and Culebra.

The US Drought Monitor, a weekly expert synthesis of conditions rather than a rainfall tally, still shows 60 of 78 municipios in at least moderate drought as of September 15. The extreme category, D3, remains the biggest single tier at 36 municipios, with Canóvanas, Carolina and Culebra all mapped at 100% coverage. The picture is improving rather than worsening: none of the 78 municipios slipped into a worse category this week, while 5 moved to better ones, including Barranquitas stepping down from extreme to severe drought.

The reservoir picture is mixed but doesn’t fight the map’s easing trend. Dos Bocas posted the week’s steepest drop, down 0.77 m and sitting in the Seguridad band, while Carraízo climbed 1.44 m over the same stretch. With most other reservoirs showing only small movements in either direction, the data suggest a drought that is still widespread across the island but no longer intensifying.

By category

Where the map is worst

The 8 municipios with the largest share of their area at D3, of 36 in that tier.

Week over week

The reservoirs

Levels are AAA’s chart readings for September 18; the change is against September 11.

The full map, coloured by category, is on the water page, next to the reservoir board and the rationing schedule. This is the 3rd Drought Watch (the previous one is here).

Source: US Drought Monitor (NDMC, USDA, NOAA) county statistics for Puerto Rico, map dated 2026-09-15; reservoir levels from AAA’s published chart. USDM categories are a weekly expert synthesis of indicators, not a rainfall total; municipio shares are area-weighted.