Extreme drought nears 40 percent; the Committee does not change operations

On August 24, 2026, NotiCel reports that San Juan National Weather Service director Ernesto Rodríguez said Monday that the current drought exceeds 2015 in coverage of areas under severe and extreme drought, and that the next federal map could place nearly 40 percent of Puerto Rico under extreme drought. When you hear that this drought is more severe in terms of D2 and D3 coverage, the percentages are more than in 2015, he said at the Drought Committee at La Fortaleza. We are not talking about duration, only about how the map is being painted. Asked whether the area in extreme could reach around 40 percent, he answered that the forecast expansion toward San Juan and southern sectors can bring the figure to that level.

The Carraízo and La Plata basins, he explained, received less than an inch of rain in much of their areas the prior week and keep deficits of up to 16 inches in some sectors. The rains of August 11 and 12 slowed the drop at Carraízo some 10 days; the reservoir began falling again. The two-week forecast does not present a relief event, though there will be episodes that move fast. Despite that picture, engineer Carlos Ignacio Pesquera reported that the Committee did not recommend immediate changes in the operational adjustments of Carraízo, La Plata, or the eastern systems. It is not yet necessary, he indicated. He acknowledged that measures are not ruled out if it worsens: some facilities with low pressure, better than a total cut, and cases such as Sergio Cuevas with a longer period.

Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority executive president Luis Reinaldo González Delgado said Carraízo was at 37.34 meters, but entering control does not automatically mean extending interruptions. At this moment we are not considering that. The pumps operate according to their levels. Secretary of State Rosachely Rivera Santana reported that Monday the draft of the new drought protocol was delivered, with additional review before approval, and formally incorporating the National Weather Service, which did not appear in the prior protocol.

On the 20th, The San Juan Daily Star put D3 at 33.31 percent. On the 22nd, El Vocero added 29.55 D2 and 10.52 D1, and Carraízo at 37.41. On the 24th, NotiCel puts 37.34 and a possible 40 percent. Three maps, three dates. The early-month Monitor kernel is not rewritten. On August 9, El Nuevo Día covered that the 2018 protocol's Scientific Committee had not been activated. On the 24th, Rosachely Rivera Santana delivers a new draft. Two protocol threads.

What remain are the 40 percent as a possibility from Ernesto Rodríguez, Luis Reinaldo González Delgado's 37.34 meters, and Carlos Ignacio Pesquera's no to changing operations that Monday. A reader who wants the federal map has the NotiCel URL at the foot.

Source: NotiCel. https://noticel.com/ultima-hora/20260824/sin-indicios-de-cambios-al-racionamiento-la-sequia-extrema-se-acerca-al-40-del-territorio/