Puerto Rico has begun rotating water rationing, and rotating water cuts, in parts of the island, after prolonged drought and extreme heat strained supplies and forced shortages across San Juan and nearby communities.

Federal agencies have been helping local authorities in San Juan respond as tens of thousands of residents have faced repeated 48-hour shut-offs. The water shortage has left tens of thousands of residents without running water and affected more than 180,000 households.

The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority began rationing on Aug. 7, and has brought in portable water tankers so residents could collect water. That measure was designed to reduce the immediate burden on families, especially in neighbourhoods where the water shut-offs lasted for two full days at a time.

Governor Jenniffer González-Colón said on August 9 that the federal government was assisting local authorities as they managed the emergency, while hospitals and other essential services are given priority.

Officials said the system has been under severe strain and that the rationing is intended to manage limited supplies while the drought continues.

González-Colón said Puerto Rico had set up a drought committee and an inter-agency support plan for the municipalities hit by the emergency.

“This situation is out of our hands,” González-Colón said, attributing the emergency to prevailing climate conditions.

Weather officials warn the drought could last into autumn

The crisis comes after the driest July ever recorded in San Juan in more than 120 years, according to the National Weather Service. As of Aug. 4, most of Puerto Rico was experiencing moderate to extreme drought conditions, a sign that the shortage was not confined to one city or one water system.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast below-normal rainfall and above-normal temperatures through October as a strengthening El Niño reduced the tropical waves that usually bring late-summer rain to the island. Officials said that pattern had added to the pressure on already fragile water supplies.

“We are seeing that El Niño continues to get stronger,” said María Novoa García, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan.

Long-standing infrastructure problems add to the strain

Officials and residents have pointed to ageing infrastructure as a factor that makes shortages harder to manage. The island has endured recurring shortages and outages for years, and residents and municipal governments have brought lawsuits against the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority over chronic service interruptions.

Those legal fights have centred on claims that deteriorating infrastructure makes drought conditions worse and leaves communities more vulnerable when the weather turns dry. Officials said the current emergency combines record dryness, extreme heat and ageing systems in a way that creates one of the island's most serious water supply challenges in recent years.

The rationing follows earlier drought-related restrictions in 2015 and 2020.