La Fortaleza’s secretary of Public Affairs, Jean Peña Payano, said Thursday that the government reduced from five to four the wells it will rehabilitate to supply towns that currently depend on the Superaqueduct, after evaluations at the state and federal level found limitations tied to one well’s location near an area with federal restrictions. Speaking at the En Récord press conference, Peña Payano said the administration excluded that well to avoid future disputes over its proximity to federal constraints; he did not identify which facility was dropped, and when asked whether it was the Maguayo well, near a federal Superfund site, he said he needed to corroborate that.
He said the reduction will not lower the volume of water the government expects to recover: the plan lets beneficiary towns draw from local sources again, keeping about 10 million gallons of water available to strengthen supply toward San Juan. Replacements for the fifth well were discarded over similar restrictions or deteriorated infrastructure. The administration originally considered a universe of 12 wells, will start with four, and will evaluate further improvements progressively.
Peña Payano said he lacked updated details on funding and talks with the Oversight Board. Work continues on the Sergio Cuevas plant filters and supply initiatives for the Monteflores area of Santurce. On cloud seeding, he said results are being validated against NOAA data before a definitive report on effectiveness is released.