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Dry Land, Rising Reservoirs, and Six Beaches to Skip · 787daily — Puerto Rico Every Morning

• 0:00
  Hey everyone, welcome to 787daily, our week in review for the week ending September 6.
• 0:05
  I'm Marisol.
• 0:06
  And I'm Diego, and Marisol, I gotta say, this week feels like a real tale of two Puerto Ricos, water-wise.
• 0:12
  Like, we're drowning and drying out at the same time.
• 0:15
  That is such a good way to put it, because that's literally where we're starting.
• 0:20
  Let's talk drought first.
• 0:21
  The Drought Watch numbers came out and they're rough — 61 of our 78 municipios are in at least moderate drought as of the map dated September 8.
• 0:30
  61 out of 78.
• 0:31
  That's not a few pockets, that's most of the island.
• 0:34
  Right, and it gets worse — 39 of those municipios are in extreme drought.
• 0:39
  Extreme.
• 0:39
  Okay, so that's the top tier before you get into exceptional, if I remember the drought scale right.
• 0:45
  And then there's the abnormally dry category on top of that?
• 0:48
  Yes, 66 municipios are abnormally dry or worse.
• 0:51
  So really there's only a small handful of the island that isn't dealing with some level of dryness right now.
• 0:57
  That's wild to sit with.
• 0:58
  So naturally, my brain goes — okay, if we're this dry, what's happening with the reservoirs?
• 1:03
  Because that's usually where we feel it first, right?
• 1:06
  That's exactly where I want to go next, and honestly this is where it gets a little confusing, because the numbers this week are a bit of a mixed bag.
• 1:16
  Let's start with La Plata — it rose to 44.25 meters.
• 1:20
  Okay, rising, that sounds like good news.
• 1:22
  It does.
• 1:23
  But then Carraízo, in the same report, fell one centimeter to 39.19 meters.
• 1:28
  Still in what they call the observación band, and 0.69 meters above the ajustes line.
• 1:33
  So Carraízo dipped a little.
• 1:35
  Not dramatic, one centimeter, but with drought numbers like we just talked about, every centimeter probably matters.
• 1:40
  It does.
• 1:41
  But then — and this is why I said mixed bag — a couple days later in the same Daily Water Watch series, Cidra pops back into the observación band, and Carraízo actually rose 13 centimeters, up to 39.20 meters.
• 1:54
  Still 0.70 meters above that ajustes line.
• 1:57
  Wait, so Carraízo drops one centimeter, then a few days later jumps 13 centimeters.
• 2:02
  That's a real swing in a short window.
• 2:04
  It is.
• 2:05
  And I think that's the honest picture of where we are right now — the reservoirs are kind of bouncing around in a band that's watched closely, while the drought conditions on land keep spreading.
• 2:16
  It's not one clean story, it's two systems that don't move in sync.
• 2:20
  That tracks with how water actually works though, right, it's not instant.
• 2:24
  Rain feeds reservoirs on its own timeline while the ground just stays parched regardless.
• 2:28
  Exactly.
• 2:28
  So keep an eye on both of these, because they tell different parts of the same story.
• 2:34
  Alright, speaking of things to keep an eye on — before anybody heads to the beach this weekend, we've got a heads up for you.
• 2:42
  We do.
• 2:42
  DRNA put out its notice for September 11, and six beaches are not suitable for swimming this week.
• 2:48
  Which ones do we know?
• 2:49
  The list includes Manuel Nolo Morales, Sardinera, Playa Sixto Escobar, Tropical Beach, and three more beyond those.
• 2:55
  Okay, so worth double-checking before you pack the cooler and the kids and head out, because nobody wants to find out at the beach that today's not the day.
• 3:04
  Right, so we'll link that full list at 787daily.com so you can check specifically which beaches made the list this week.
• 3:12
  Good call.
• 3:13
  Alright, let's shift gears to the Capitol, because I know you've been tracking the Legislature all week.
• 3:18
  I have, and honestly this week is a good reminder that legislative activity and legislative results are two very different things.
• 3:24
  23 of the 30 measures we track recorded some kind of action during the week of September 4 through September 10.
• 3:31
  23 out of 30 is a lot of movement.
• 3:34
  It is a lot of movement.
• 3:36
  But here's the thing — only two measures actually passed a chamber.
• 3:39
  Just two.
• 3:40
  Just two.
• 3:41
  And none — zero — were enacted into law.
• 3:44
  So a lot of motion, not a lot of finish lines crossed yet.
• 3:48
  Exactly.
• 3:48
  Committees hearing things, votes happening on procedural steps, that kind of thing counts as action.
• 3:53
  But getting all the way through one chamber, let alone actually becoming law, that's a much higher bar, and this week only two measures cleared even that first hurdle.
• 4:02
  It's kind of like watching a lot of cars merge onto the highway but almost nobody actually reaches their exit yet.
• 4:08
  That's a good way to think about it.
• 4:11
  We'll keep tracking it week to week and let you know when things actually start crossing that finish line.
• 4:17
  Alright, that's our week — dry ground, moving reservoirs, a beach list worth checking, and a Legislature that's busy but not quite finished.
• 4:24
  For all the details, the full numbers, and that complete beach list, head to 787daily.com.
• 4:30
  Thanks for spending part of your week with us.
• 4:33
  We'll see you next time.
• 4:35
  Take care, everyone.