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I was on the mainland for 6 months and just returned at the end of November. This was the tail end of the rainy season so the farm was a jungle as it always is after 6 months. There was no indication of a drought anywhere. Ponce never had to ration water. We are having a mini drought at this time but there is enough moisture in the ground to sustain the plantings. Even though  we are on the dry side of the Island there are three rivers that flow towards the city. There is Lago Cerillos that supplies our water and we do have a new Lago Portuguese. This lake is protection from the 100 year flood. Here when it rains it can rain hard and when it is dry it is very dry. My personal design is to have primitive glam cam huts each having its own cistern from collected rainwater and having its own garden too. I will have cisterns higher up as backup and all of it will be gravity feed so no electric necessary. The worst drought I ever experienced was about 12 years ago 6 months after I bought the farm. There were major droughts on this side of the island with a lot of fires with my farm being on of the biggest fires. All 32 acres burnt to the ground with only the 100 yer old mangoe trees and a few others surviving. Today it is more lush than it ever has been since when the Spanish were here and all the forest were cut down to make way for coffee, etc. ours was a coffee farm for 120 years. Now parts of it is probably more like it was before the Spanish. I am planting fruit trees etc that can tolerate some drought and am doing great with a good variety. The drought and the economy ae a lot a like and there are ways to work with it. My house is already a destination for certain types and the farm will easily do the same.

Fascinating life. I am going out of my way to meet you, if I have to, when I get there.

And further on topic, your observation of current level of drought in your areas supports the Drought Map's level.

I will take a country drive to Lago Cerillos and give you a personal take on it. There is no word about a drought since I have been here. You can visit almost anywhere on the Island within 2 hours unless you do the mountain roads. Our water on the farm comes from a community spring. It serves about 300 homes. I am going to ask Miguel, the guy in charge how the water has been for the community. Water there costs $12 a month and it only runs from morning to evening. You fill your cistern with it and that is what you use when it is off. Your water is never shut off even if you do not pay your bill. I would like to see the community supply their own electricity using wind, solar, and water turbines as there are streams in the valley.

Look forward to that report.  Selfishly, if it covers the general situation in Adjuntas centro and 10 mile radius, would really be helpful to me, but whatever you report will be great with me.

Above link to current data US Dept Agriculture drought monitor

In the text section, the comment for PR says:

Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico

High pressure kept most stations in Hawaii drier than normal this USDM week, and it was a dry week across Alaska and Puerto Rico. D1 (moderate drought)  was expanded westward across the southern coast of Puerto Rico to reflect dry soils. Otherwise, no change was made to the depiction in Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico.

Mrkpytn wrote:

I will take a country drive to Lago Cerillos and give you a personal take on it. There is no word about a drought since I have been here. You can visit almost anywhere on the Island within 2 hours unless you do the mountain roads. Our water on the farm comes from a community spring. It serves about 300 homes. I am going to ask Miguel, the guy in charge how the water has been for the community. Water there costs $12 a month and it only runs from morning to evening. You fill your cistern with it and that is what you use when it is off. Your water is never shut off even if you do not pay your bill. I would like to see the community supply their own electricity using wind, solar, and water turbines as there are streams in the valley.

Why should anyone pay their bill if it is not shut off when you do not pay?

I will ask them that question but since it is a community maybe some are too poor. I had  someone staying on my farm before I could actually use it and he did not pay the water bill for a few years. I evicted him and paid the bill. No one ever mentioned the water bill past due. Every one in this community are sort of related in one way or another and I have been incorporated into the community. I would like to talk with them on generating our own electricity.