The U.S. government declared a drought disaster for Puerto Rico on Wednesday, affecting over two dozen municipalities as severe water shortages intensify across the island.
More than a third of Puerto Rico is now under extreme drought, with an additional 30% experiencing severe conditions. July marked the driest month in San Juan’s 120‑year record and the second‑warmest on record for the capital.
Governor Jenniffer González said she formally requested the declaration from the U.S. Department of Agriculture more than two weeks earlier.
“From the very beginning, we made clear the needs of our farmers,” she said.
The declaration covers 26 of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities, including Cabo Rojo, Ponce, Yauco, Aibonito and Lares.
The disaster declaration allows farmers and agricultural producers in those regions to access emergency loans.
“This is an important step,” said Puerto Rico Agriculture Secretary Irving Rodríguez. “We urge all producers affected by the drought to document their losses.”
The prolonged dry spell forced many farmers to stop production as early as May, according to Fello Pérez, a Puerto Rico‑based technical assistance provider for RAFI, a North Carolina nonprofit that supports small‑ to midsize farms across the Southeast, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In a phone interview, Pérez said that Puerto Rican growers using hydroponics and traditional soil‑based methods are among the hardest hit.
Fruit growers cultivating coffee, cacao, plantains and bananas reported that leaves were turning yellow and dropping from the trees because of water scarcity.
“The harvest was ahead of schedule,” he said.
Livestock producers also suffer, unable to feed their animals. Desperate for income, some sold young bulls at rock‑bottom prices, but buyers dried up amid the drought, Pérez noted.
Losses have piled up since May; one farmer even returned to mechanic work to stay afloat, Pérez added.
Governor González declared a state of emergency in late July due to the ongoing drought and activated the National Guard to transport, distribute and purify water.
In early August she instituted water‑rationing in selected neighborhoods of San Juan and six other municipalities, leaving more than 180,000 customers without service for 48‑hour intervals under a rotating schedule.
Water is being delivered by large trucks, prioritizing hospitals and residences of elderly residents.
Meteorologists attribute the drought to the El Niño warming cycle, which is also impacting the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands. The federal government declared a drought disaster earlier this month for St. Thomas, St. John and St. Crox, which are under extreme drought conditions.
Beyond the drought, Puerto Rico faces chronic water shortages due to deteriorating infrastructure.
Thousands of residents have endured water shortages and pressure fluctuations for as long as a year.
The persistent water issues, unrelated to the drought, led San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero to sue the island’s Water and Sewer Authority in late May. The governor acknowledged that the agency’s infrastructure has suffered from decades of underinvestment and poor maintenance.
The island instituted water‑rationing in 2020 and again in 2015, when roughly 400,000 customers received service only every third day.
