House commission grills water authority as San Juan lawmakers call conditions a 'crisis'

Representative Ricardo Chino Reyes opened a public hearing Feb. 27 under Resolución de la Cámara 6‑27 to examine repeated water interruptions and low pressures affecting San Juan and the broader metropolitan region. The Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA) was called to account and its executive director, Luis R. González Delgado, testified.

González Delgado said the authority has traced recent service failures to years of deferred maintenance and specific operational events, notably a voltage incident that knocked a Carraizo pumping unit out of service. "Nuestra meta es que el 100 por 100 de los clientes tenga un servicio de agua, de calidad y confiable," he told the commission, and described ongoing mitigation including mobilizing crews, using tanker deliveries and deploying contractors where needed.

The AAA official outlined a mix of short- and long-term work. He said the administration’s recent announcement includes funds that will channel about $63,000,000 to San Juan over the next two years and cited projects the agency is advancing: a new Sagrado Corazón pumping station, sanitation trunk repairs across key avenues, dredging work at Carraizo and a planned rehabilitation of the Sergio Cuevas filtration plant. González Delgado said the Sergio Cuevas subasta has closed and proposals are under evaluation, with a contractor selection expected in March and construction planned within the current four‑year term.

Lawmakers pressed for specifics on near-term effects and verification. Representative Víctor Paredes asked how many customers Sergio Cuevas serves; González Delgado said the plant corresponds to roughly 190,000 customer accounts and reiterated that restoring offline filters and returning more pumping units to service will quickly improve distribution and tank levels.

Several legislators pushed back on tone and timing. Representative Cheito Hernández said the situation already amounts to a local crisis for affected residents: "Si la gente no tiene agua todos los días en su casa, tiene una crisis de agua," he told the panel, and he demanded a focused action plan for Precinct 1 (Las Margaritas, Llorens Torres, Villa Palmera, Playita, Ocean Park, Condado and Punta Las Marías).

AAA witnesses described monitoring and complaint-handling practices. Luis Ortiz Salgado, vice president of operations, said operations centers compile telemetría, pressure sensors and customer complaints; staff make field visits to corroborate reports and the authority is deploying smart meters and other telemetry improvements to increase real‑time visibility.

Members raised questions about whether past operational decisions had been authorized and whether investigations had occurred after earlier outages. González Delgado said administrative and federal inquiries examined valve operations and that investigators determined the personnel actions were within authorized instructions; he said the probes did not lead to criminal charges but did inform administrative review.

The commission adopted several follow-up requests. Members asked AAA to provide within five business days a targeted work plan and metrics for Precinct 1, customer lists and service tallies tied to the Sergio Cuevas service area, documentation of interagency meetings and a timeline for contract awards and mobilization. Legislators also requested AAA’s documentation related to any municipality reimbursement claims for emergency deliveries. AAA agreed to deliver many items and said it expects to select contractors for major subastas in March.

The hearing included repeated appeals from lawmakers to keep residents informed: members called for clearer public telemetry or a public dashboard, quicker field verification, and a plan to evaluate bill credits for customers who experienced prolonged service lapses. The commission recessed briefly during the session over a procedural dispute about introducing video evidence; the chair asked that any audiovisual materials be submitted to the committee by email for review.

The commission did not take a final vote on policy changes at the hearing; it concluded with a set of document requests and deadlines and signaled possible follow-up sessions with community leaders and additional agency witnesses.

The commission will reconvene or request written responses as those deliverables arrive; AAA said it expects to provide selected project- and contract-related documentation in March and to share the requested local plans within the five-day window the panel set.