Rationing enters its third week; La Plata drops to 45.35 meters

On August 22, 2026, El Vocero reports that the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority entered its third week of rationing in metro communities, with questions about when repair of a pump that draws raw water from La Plata dam will be completed and with a membership that approved a strike vote. Public Affairs secretary Jean Peña Payano admitted Sunday that there is uncertainty about when the corporation will stabilize La Plata, after a breakdown left more than 24,000 customers without service. They had updated the mechanical problem, he said, but he did not have the detail of dates. That week the Drought Committee was to meet.

Representative Jorge Navarro Suárez said the AAA has hidden the truth from the people: on a visit, he said, there was no staff working on the extraction-pump repair. The most worrying thing, he added, is that thousands of families suffer extended rationing with incomplete information. El Vocero asked the AAA for a reaction; by deadline it issued no statement. La Plata reservoir dropped Sunday from 45.42 meters to 45.35, seven centimeters, closer to the operational-adjustments limit at 44.90. Carraízo dropped from 37.46 to 37.41, 41 centimeters from the control threshold at 37.00. That low Carraízo level, the newspaper recalls, triggered the August 7 rationing for Trujillo Alto, Carolina, Canóvanas, San Juan, Gurabo, Juncos, and Loíza.

The AAA, in writing, explained that the motor repair requires parts that are not in Puerto Rico. They conditioned the rectifier or diode bank, corrected connections, replaced diodes, and adjusted voltage; the motor remains unstable and shuts off. José A. Rivera Ortiz, Metro Region executive director, said parts with particular specifications have to be bought off the island. He offered no time estimate. On the UIA strike vote, the corporation also did not answer El Vocero. Jean Peña Payano said the Executive's expectation is that the impasse not interrupt operations: we already made them an offer; they understand that is not the amount; we will keep talking.

The Drought Monitor, in El Vocero's recount, puts 33.31 percent of the territory under extreme, 29.55 under severe, and 10.52 under moderate. On the 20th, The San Juan Daily Star had published the 33.31 of D3. El Vocero, on the 22nd, adds D2 and D1. They are not averaged with El Nuevo Día's August 13 map.

On August 25, NotiCel covers that La Plata's fourth pump returned to operation. That is another date. On the 22nd, El Vocero leaves 45.35 meters, more than 24,000 customers, and parts that are not on the island. A reader who wants the AAA writing has the URL at the foot.

Source: El Vocero. https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/recrudece-la-crisis-de-agua-mientras-racionamiento-entra-en-su-tercera-semana/article_cb106534-ef7c-4e70-a944-654bbe78f50f.html