Drought in Puerto Rico

Here in Bayamón we're on a 24hrs on/24hrs off rotation.  So far it hasn't been too bad.  Some areas in metro SJ are 24 on, 48 off.  We have a camp shower in our hurricane prep kit that has come in handy.  A couple hours in the sun and the water gets nice and hot.

We were supposed to get a tropical wave yesterday but it passed to the south.  Watching the satellite images over the past couple of weeks, it seems that the moisture just dries up when it gets near the island.  There's another wave in the central Atlantic.  Hopefully it will approach the island and deliver some much needed rain.

I feel so badly for those who are having to ration now

Over here in Rincon  - in one area - there was no water for almost 4 days - yesterday the water began to run again.

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Here is another bit of info, and I don't know how true this is.

A couple days ago, I listened to a neighbor say that in the San Juan area, that some people were/are feeling upset about how on a day of other's fair amount of rationing, some other people still filled up their water cisterns.

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Things sure do easy come and easy go here. Lights. Water. Winds. Sands. Storms and On and On. Living here is a way to learn more about living well enough with the basics ~  I can realistically and honestly write as well ~ that this is a good preparation for letting go of life as we know it, and physically die well.

Agree with Deborah - some cisterns can hold more than people use in 24 or 48 hrs, which can undermine the rationing.  Also when the water comes on, it is quite brown, so it's necessary to let it run for a bit to clear up (I have been saving that water to use to flush toilets).

The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor has classified a large swath of the eastern part of PR as Severe and Extreme drought.  The water levels in pretty much all the reservoirs are declining.  There's a potential for tropical development in the Atlantic - hopefully that'll bring some much needed rain to the island. 

Hope everyone is fairing well.

Let's hope and pray that some rain will fall!

trekrider520 wrote:

The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor has classified a large swath of the eastern part of PR as Severe and Extreme drought.  The water levels in pretty much all the reservoirs are declining.  There's a potential for tropical development in the Atlantic - hopefully that'll bring some much needed rain to the island. 

Hope everyone is fairing well.

Were Fajardo and Ceiba included in that list?

Rey,

Here is the report from AAA;

http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/loca … e-2080365/

Here are another couple of updates:

-El Yunque is 40 inches below normal for rainfall totals according to El Vocero
-Much of San Juan is now going to 24 hr on, 48 hr off
-359 schools will not be able to serve breakfast to kids when school starts next week.
-The US Drought Monitor has forecasted that no significant rainfall will fall on the island until October (really hope they're wrong on this one)
-There is a petition to the White House to bring Navy desalinization equipment to help out the island:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
Immediately locate several shipborne desalinization plants to provide potable water to drought-stricken Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico is going through its worst drought since at least 1994. Several areas are having water rationed with service only one out of every three days. San Juan's main reservoir is close to being shut down in less than 30 days. The United States Navy has shipborne desalinization plants that can be docked and hooked into Puerto Rico's water systems. This should be done immediately, until the upcoming rainy season begins to refill our reservoirs.

Hope everyone is doing well!!!

I certainly hope something comes of the petition!

My sister just send us pictures of our house backyard, the grass and trees are not looking that happy....

adlin20 wrote:

My sister just send us pictures of our house backyard, the grass and trees are not looking that happy....

But I bet the weeds are doing well still, 

Nahh when I say grass, I mean weeds. Mangos are doing good thou, unfortunate they are going to waste since there are so many of them. It is a shame seen the pictures of so many mangos on the patio going to waste. But, the iguanas are having a field day eating them......

Question, can you attach picture to your posts here? I been in other forums where you can do that but I cannot figure it out here.

AAA just announced that customers served by the Carraízo reservoir will switch to 1 day on, 3 days off.

One good thing to come of this is that the water leaks are being addressed - Primera Hora has an article saying that the AAA has been fixing 1,300 leaks per week.

Bring on the rain!!!!

Ponce is on the dry side of the Island but does not have to ration water. Lago Cerillos has enough water for two more months without rationing. The tropical depressions should be forming soon and that should alleviate the water issues Island wide.

Our family in the southwest part of the island had not been affected.  But they been telling us is hot and the plants are feeling the lack of rain. Hopefully the rainny season is around the corner. With our luck it will be raining on our trip next month.

That is great news they are fixing leaks, for sure~

Watching the weather channel this morning and they had a segment on the drought in PR.  They mentioned that Navy desalinization equipment is being mobilized to head to PR.  Haven't seen anything yet on the local news sites.  Hopefully this will bring some relief!

The government may even try an experimental cloud seeding project over the main reservoirs.  It'll be interesting to see what happens with that.

Well, there has been a little bit of rain the past couple of days, but hasn't had any impacts on the reservoirs.  In fact, two reservoirs (Carraízo and La Plata) dropped fairly significantly the past week.  Officials were saying that if nothing improves the Carraízo may be shut down in 40 days.

Schools have modified their schedule.  Kids are going to school Mondays through Thursdays and Fridays are reserved for cleaning.  They also have shorter days.

US Drought Monitor indicated that 34 towns are now classified as extreme drought status.  Rainfall is anywhere from 12-20 lower than normal in the metro area.

Hopefully the more normal tropical patterns start arriving!!

Thanks for the update, Trekrider!

Reading the latest copy of The San Juan Star, the cloud seeding project is beginning as well.  It will be interesting to see if that as any impact on the reservoirs.

It rain over the western part of the island this week. My sister house is in Guayanilla and she got a couple of nice rain days. We be in PR in 3 weeks, I hope it rains while we are there. It is very hot right now, some rain will help cool down plus the north side need it bad.

We had a tropical wave hit the island yesterday and the Carraízo reservoir increased 31 centimeters.  There's also a system brewing in the Atlantic that has some good potential for development.

Weatherpr.com has some great information about all aspects of weather here - it has been my go-to source.

Bring on more rain!!!!

Yeah!

The area of Aguadilla-Aguada got the most rain out of the tropical storm (vaguada). The Culebrinas river in Aguadilla overflow and some roads had to be closed. They had between 2-2 1/2" of rain this past weekend. Hopefully this next tropical storm will bring water to the northern part of the island.

The name says it all, Aguada and Aguadilla   Is that where The Chumbaos live?

No, los mojaos!! 

Tropical storm Danny has formed in the Atlantic (predicted to become a hurricane tomorrow or Friday) and the computer models are showing it to move in the vicinity of PR by next week.  We're watching the system closely here.

trekrider520 wrote:

Tropical storm Danny has formed in the Atlantic (predicted to become a hurricane tomorrow or Friday) and the computer models are showing it to move in the vicinity of PR by next week.  We're watching the system closely here.

Hope it brings the rain without the damage. Then again most houses are concrete, so not going anywhere.

Be safe but get wet

We need the rain, specially in the metropolitan areas. Hopefully the island will get plenty of rain and not the wind....

Looks like Danny is now a Hurricane and looks like is heading straight to PR.

it will probably fizzle out and bring lots of water..that is what weather.com predicts as of now.

Danny should be arriving the island by early Tuesday.

For all our expat in the island be safe. It should be mainly rain so careful with the rivers and low crossings.

From history: Disaster once again hits the island, 3 chicken, 2 cows, and 1 fool that was swimming in the river during the storm were drowned.
In other news........

I am hopeful the storm delivers enough for PR and the DR. I wish it was common place to ban swimming pool, lawn sprinklers and car washes during times when the water supply drops below 90 days supply.

Maybe triple the billing rate if people go over the average usage, indicated from their past bills.
How common are cisterns and wells in the hills?

Here in Rincon, we have been fortunate, with plenty of rain. I hope Danny brings some relief, but little damage.  Everyone be safe!

Puerto Rico is a small target and very rarely gets hit by a huracan, most time it passes north or south.

Since we have such lousy infrastructure any decent storm cause damages to electric systems and water pollution so people may be without either for a week or two.

This one huracan looks like it may hit the island but it may be fairly weak by the time it reaches us.
A one time storm may not be sufficient to ease the shortage of water since we are going to need at least two weeks of constant rain to get us out of the bind. The floods to low laying areas may be severe but wasted water since most will not end up in the reservoirs. So we need several more storms.