Puerto Rico’s government is not considering a return to water rationing because reservoir levels have improved with recent rains and are rising, Secretary of State Rosachely Rivera said Tuesday after the biweekly Drought Committee meeting at La Fortaleza. The government is keeping its cloud-seeding project, now focused on the La Plata watershed, and its plan to rehabilitate and activate wells on the north coast.
Rivera said all reservoirs are at the Watch band; Carraízo had its gates opened after reaching the Spilling band, and La Plata is stable. The only scheduled interruptions are in Naranjito, where about 4,000 Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (AAA) customers are without water because of low levels at the Cedro dams. Rivera said significant rains are expected and that, once they arrive, the plan there can be lifted.
National Weather Service San Juan director Ernesto Rodríguez said the eastern third of the island, in extreme drought a month ago, has improved significantly, and that Saharan dust is not limiting rainfall. He said the next three days are the most favorable for rain over La Plata because of a trough. AAA president Luis González Delgado said runoff above 100 cubic feet per second shows a rising pattern.
Cidra is in the Watch band; Río Blanco and Fajardo are in the Safe band. Of the $9.6 million requested from the Oversight Board’s Emergency Reserve for five wells, $2.4 million has been approved and transferred for studies, in coordination with the EPA. Cloud seeding, by Texas-based Seeding Operations & Atmospheric Research at $400,000, has logged over 20 flights.