State of emergency declared due to water supply crisis in Puerto Rico

San Juan.- The governor of Puerto Rico, Jenniffer González, declared a state of emergency this Wednesday due to problems with the infrastructure of the Aqueducts and Sewers Authority (AAA) and activated the National Guard to provide support in this crisis.

These measures aim to urgently address the critical deficiencies affecting the provision of drinking water and sanitation services in multiple municipalities on the island, which have generated strong criticism from the citizenry.

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Executive Order 2025-44 delegates to the AAA's executive president the power to identify and incorporate, as part of this declaration of emergency, any other region or infrastructure whose condition requires urgent attention for stabilization, repair, rehabilitation, or mitigation purposes. Any project related to addressing this emergency must be processed with agility and priority, ensuring compliance with applicable environmental regulations and safeguarding public health and safety at all times, according to the official statement. In the same Executive Order, the Puerto Rico National Guard is activated with the purpose of providing support with equipment and personnel to the AAA in the transportation, coordination, logistics, and distribution of water to address the emergency caused by this breakdown. Five days ago, the AAA reported that a breakdown in the pipeline of the raw water intake from the Carraízo dam left areas of the metropolitan area without service. To address this crisis, the AAA installed 'oases' for the supply of drinking water in different points of the municipalities of San Juan, Carolina, Trujillo Alto and Canóvanas.