La Plata Reservoir Drops to 43.45 Meters, Still the Only One Under Operational Adjustments

The short version

• La Plata fell 0.05 meters to 43.45 meters and is the only one of 19 AAA-monitored reservoirs under operational adjustments, Metro Puerto Rico reported
• Carraízo dropped 0.10 meters to 40.86 meters and stays at safety level; Cidra rose 0.01 meters to 400.66 meters and stays under observation
• Seven reservoirs declined Monday, ten rose and two were unchanged
• On Saturday, El Vocero reported La Plata at 43.52 meters and 64.22 percent of Puerto Rico in some level of drought, per the U.S. Drought Monitor

Updates

Update, Oct 12, 10:11 AM AST

Corrected: reservoir levels and changes are in meters, not centimeters; added Patillas to the reservoirs that rose (ten rose, seven fell, two unchanged); clarified headline.

Monday’s Levels

La Plata in Comerío fell 0.05 meters to 43.45 meters, according to Monday’s report from the Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA). Metro Puerto Rico reported that it is the only one of the 19 reservoirs the AAA monitors that remains under operational adjustments. The reservoir serves about 130,828 customers in Dorado, Guaynabo, Naranjito, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Vega Alta, Bayamón, Cataño and Corozal.

Carraízo in Trujillo Alto dropped 0.10 meters to 40.86 meters and remains at safety level, Primera Hora reported; the AAA had opened one of the dam’s gates on Sunday to manage its level. Cidra rose 0.01 meters to 400.66 meters but stays under observation. Dos Bocas (89.62 meters) and Caonillas (251.79 meters), which feed the Superacueducto, were at safety level. Reservoir levels are elevations in meters; Primera Hora’s report labeled these figures in centimeters, but the changes match the meter readings reported by Metro Puerto Rico and El Vocero.

Which Reservoirs Rose and Fell

Seven reservoirs declined on Monday. Besides La Plata and Carraízo, Metro Puerto Rico listed drops at Loco in Yauco (0.22 meters), Matrullas in Orocovis (0.04 meters), Garzas in Adjuntas (0.01 meters), Guajataca in Quebradillas (0.01 meters) and Cerrillos in Ponce (0.01 meters). Ten rose: Cidra, Fajardo, Patillas, Río Blanco in Naguabo, Carite in Guayama, Guineo in Orocovis, Guayo in Lares, Guayabal in Juana Díaz, Lucchetti in Yauco and Dos Bocas in Arecibo. Toa Vaca in Villalba and Caonillas in Utuado were unchanged.

In its Saturday report, El Vocero said La Plata had fallen two centimeters to 43.52 meters and Carraízo three centimeters to 40.91 meters, with nine reservoirs down that day. At that point 15 reservoirs were at safety level, Cidra and Fajardo were under observation, La Plata was under operational adjustments and Garzas was at overflow level. The AAA calculates daily changes from 5 a.m. readings. El Vocero also cited the U.S. Drought Monitor: 64.22 percent of Puerto Rico is in some level of drought.

Where the sources differ

Metro Puerto Rico and Primera Hora, both published Oct. 12, give the same Monday changes for La Plata (down 0.05 to 43.45) and Carraízo (down 0.10 to 40.86). Primera Hora labeled the figures in centimeters; Metro Puerto Rico and El Vocero use meters, which is the unit the AAA reports reservoir elevations in. El Vocero’s Oct. 10 report covers Saturday’s data, when La Plata stood at 43.52 meters and nine reservoirs had declined.

What the reports do not say

The reports do not state the current drought category for the specific municipalities served by La Plata, whether further operational measures such as reduced water pressure will be implemented, the expected impact of any forecasted rain in coming days, or when La Plata might return to safety level. No information is given on total water storage volumes or consumption rates.

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Sources

Every link below was opened and checked when this story was published and last updated. Official means a government body, agency or the organization itself; Reporting means a news outlet.

1. Official La Plata reporta descenso en sus nivelesAutoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA data) · metro.pr · Spanish · checked Oct 12, 9:59 AM AST
2. Reporting La Plata reporta descenso en sus nivelesMetro Puerto Rico (Metro Puerto Rico) · metro.pr · Spanish · checked Oct 12, 9:59 AM AST
3. Reporting Así están los niveles de los embalses en Puerto RicoPrimera Hora (Primera Hora) · primerahora.com · Spanish · checked Oct 12, 9:59 AM AST
4. Reporting La Plata continúa en descenso mientras nueve embalses pierden nivelEl Vocero (El Vocero) · elvocero.com · Spanish · checked Oct 12, 9:59 AM AST

How we checked this

Monday’s figures come from the AAA’s daily report as published by Metro Puerto Rico and Primera Hora; Saturday’s figures and the drought data come from El Vocero.

Compiled by the PuertoRico.com News Desk from the reports and statements listed above, and checked against them before publishing. It does not include original interviews. Spot an error? Email support@puertorico.com with a link to this story.