The DRNA creates a Task Force for the dry dredging of Carraízo

On August 22, 2026, Metro Puerto Rico reports that Department of Natural and Environmental Resources secretary Waldemar Quiles announced a Task Force that could increase Carraízo reservoir capacity by around 50 million gallons. The goal is to speed dry, shoreline dredging of that body of water. Jenniffer González Colón, Quiles said in written remarks, has asked that they act promptly because that dredging has not been done for too long. During that week they began permit filings and coordination with the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority and the Puerto Rico National Guard, among others. The Task Force, he added, monitors, coordinates, and executes.

The group is made up of the acting director of the San Juan Regional Office and director of Regional Operations, the director of the Recovery and Mitigation Office, and the assistant secretary of Operations. Metro does not publish those three names. They are not invented here. Functions begin Saturday, August 22. It will hold constant meetings the coming weeks. Shortly, Quiles previewed, members of the AAA and the National Guard will join. The prior Wednesday he visited the shores with technical National Guard staff.

The work's north star, he said, is to increase capacity: recover space that for decades was not available. It is done when reservoirs drop, as in drought, which allows more action. Carraízo was built in the 1950s, and that makes this kind of dredging essential. Dry dredging removes sediment, debris, vegetative material, solid waste, and mud from slopes, banks, and shores. Metro writes a misspelling of vegetative; the process is copied, not the typo as a fact.

Fifty million gallons are not a rationing plan or a meter reading. On August 20, El Vocero placed Carraízo at 37.41 meters, 41 centimeters from the 37.00 control threshold, and dated rationing from August 7. On the 24th, NotiCel has Luis Reinaldo González Delgado citing 37.34 meters and says the Drought Committee did not recommend immediate adjustment changes. Two readings, two days. This one of the 22nd is the Task Force and the gallonage Waldemar Quiles put as a possible increase.

On the 19th, Metro covered House Bill 1372 to pass Super Aqueduct modernization to AFI. Carraízo dredging and the Super Aqueduct are two infrastructures. They are not fused. What remain are the 50 million gallons, Saturday the 22nd, and the three unnamed posts. A reader who wants the permit has the Metro URL at the foot.

Source: Metro Puerto Rico. https://www.metro.pr/noticias/2026/08/22/recursos-naturales-crea-task-force-para-atender-dragado-del-embalse-carraizo/