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The government in Puerto Rico says it will begin rationing water this week. A severe drought is the latest in a string of problems leaving many people's taps dry. NPR's Adrian Florido reports.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Puerto Rico has gotten so little rain this summer that key reservoirs are on the verge of empty. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon said she had no choice but to turn off the flow of water to people's homes.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON: (Speaking Spanish).
FLORIDO: "We've rarely seen our reservoirs so depleted," she said, "and if we continue this way, we will run out of water." Beginning Friday, about half a million people in parts of the capital, San Juan, and in surrounding cities will have their water cut on a rotating schedule. Forty-eight hours with water then 48 hours without until reservoirs are restored. That could take a long time because forecasters don't expect significant rainfall in the weeks ahead. In Puerto Rico, people are furious.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #1: (Chanting) Jenniffer Gonzalez.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: (Shouting in Spanish).
FLORIDO: Even before the drought, people were coping with water shortages for other reasons. This week, people brought empty water bottles and unwashed laundry to a protest in the capital. Dhara Rivera (ph) was one of the organizers. She lives in San Juan in a neighborhood where taps started going dry 13 months ago. She and her neighbors have kept track.
DHARA RIVERA: For the year, we have 123 interrupted days without water.
FLORIDO: She spends a lot of time opening her faucet to see if anything comes out. She says it's been hard to plan her life not knowing when she will have water and when she won't.
RIVERA: (Sighing) It changed your life totally. It changed your life. You know, water is essential for living. And not having is frustrating, you know, not only for myself, for my neighbors, for the animals, for the island.
FLORIDO: For months, Rivera and a growing coalition of citizens and public interest groups have been calling for the head of the public water utility to resign. So far, he hasn't budged. Now Rivera and her neighbors are bracing for possibly even less water than they already get.
RIVERA: Imagine with the rationing. It's going to get worse for us.
FLORIDO: The problems plaguing Puerto Rico's water systems have been building for years. Experts say a primary cause is infrastructure that's not been maintained because of the island's budget problems, but also a history of corruption. Major pipes have begun to crumble. According to the government, more than half of its water supply is lost to leaky underground pipes. As Governor Gonzalez-Colon prepares to start rationing supply, she says she'll tap emergency funding to distribute cisterns and drinking water to affected communities, with help from the National Guard. She's also said that if rain remains elusive, water cuts could become more drastic.
Adrian Florido, NPR News, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
(SOUNDBITE OF MALICK PATHE SOW AND BAO SISSOKO'S "MANIO BE KUMBOLA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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