Natural water systems in Puerto Rico are delicate and very important to the country’s wellbeing. The island itself has no natural lakes (only man-made reservoirs) but has several rivers on the island. There are also two large underground aquifers (one in the north region that supplies drinking water to most of the island’s population and one in the south) that provide about 36 per cent of the island’s water consumption. Each day, almost 700 million gallons of water are extracted to meet the “needs” of inhabitants from these karstic regions. The southern part of the island depends more on its aquifer than the north because rivers often run dry during the hotter seasons.
While the island has enough water to sustain itself, reality is that water quality and administration is an issue. Water quality is supposed to be subject to the same regulations as the mainland United States and the latest release by the Environmental Quality Board says those guidelines are still in place. But in 2000, over 80 drinking water wells located in the northern aquifer had to be closed due to contamination by mercury, nitrogen and VOC, among others. That alone equaled approximately 100 million gallons of water per day that were unusable to the population- putting further pressure on an already stretched resource. The islands water storage facilities are limited in their use and storage capacity is at a premium.
In man-made lakes, eutrophication and sedimentation of the water is also an issue. Eutrophication is the over-enrichment of water by nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen and can have several negative effects on the environment surrounding the area, the water quality and the bacteria in it. The rivers on the island depend on northern rain to keep flowing. The aquifers are in sensitive environmentally protected areas but there is potential for them to be disrupted with the construction of the pipeline.
It is not recommended to drink water directly from any lakes or rivers, and much of the population is hesitant to drink tap water as well. As a result, the water bottling business was booming in the early 2000’s — so much that the government had to draft new regulations to curb the illegal bottlers and force all others to comply to strict standards. The government also brought in new drinking water regulations; including upgrading existing systems, building new infrastructure projects and stricter regulations regarding contamination.
Below are links to more information about water resources in Puerto Rico, and issues surrounding them.