Drought Watch: 53 Municipios in Drought, Extreme in 12 Municipios

The US Drought Monitor map dated September 22 puts 53 of 78 municipios in at least moderate drought (D1). The worst tier, D3 extreme drought, covers 12 of them, led by Guánica, Lajas and Santa Isabel.

60 of the 78 municipios are at least abnormally dry, 76.9% of the island. Since the last map this desk published, 0 municipios worsened and 44 improved, while 34 stayed in the same category.

The biggest moves: Aguas Buenas (extreme drought to severe drought). In the week to September 25, the biggest reservoir fall was Guineo, down 0.24 m (Desborde band), and the biggest rise Dos Bocas, up 0.87 m.

The tables below carry every category, the municipios in the worst tier and each reservoir’s week.

By category

Where the map is worst

The 8 municipios with the largest share of their area at D3, of 12 in that tier.

Week over week

The reservoirs

Levels are AAA’s chart readings for September 25; the change is against September 18.

The full map, coloured by category, is on the water page, next to the reservoir board and the rationing schedule. This is the 4th Drought Watch (the previous one is here).

Source: US Drought Monitor (NDMC, USDA, NOAA) county statistics for Puerto Rico, map dated 2026-09-22; 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.