By Brad Brooks
Aug 6 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico will begin a rotating water rationing program on Friday across the island in response to intense drought, authorities said, in a plan that forces tens of thousands of people to go without water for 48 hours at a time.
The rationing will last at least through the end of August, according to details posted on the U.S. territory's Aqueduct and Sewer Authority website. Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez said at a press conference late on Wednesday that
she does not know how long the rationing will be required.
"This situation is out of our hands," Gonzalez said in a press release earlier on Wednesday. "It is the result of the climate conditions we've been facing."
Puerto Rico's capital, San Juan, experienced its driest July on record, according to the National Weather Service. Nearly 68% of the island is experiencing drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Little relief is in sight. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration outlook puts the odds of below-normal rainfall and above-normal heat at greater than 70% for Puerto Rico from August through October, as a strengthening El Nino pattern suppresses the tropical waves that typically bring the island's late-summer rain.
Seven municipalities, including San Juan, will see rationing in the current phase of cuts, according to the government. They are all areas served by the Carraizo reservoir, which authorities say is at critically low levels. Affected areas have been split into two zones that will alternate with and without service on 48-hour cycles.
The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority said it would deploy water trucks to affected communities, with priority given to hospitals and long-term care facilities, and urged residents to boil water for at least three minutes once service resumes as a precaution against possible contamination.
It also asked customers to conserve during service periods and avoid non-essential use of water such as washing cars or watering lawns.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Paul Simao)
