Puerto Rico Is Rationing Water. It Could’ve Avoided It by Harvesting Rainwater
Puerto Rico Is Rationing Water. It Could’ve Avoided It by Harvesting Rainwater
波多黎各正在实行用水配给制，而雨水收集本可避免这一切
Puerto Rico is experiencing a historic drought that’s led to water rationing following the driest month on record in July. Yet one ready-made solution is barely being tapped: the normally copious rainfall. Anywhere from 30 to 169 inches of precipitation falls on the territory annually, but the government doesn’t require US citizens in Puerto Rico to install catchment systems to take advantage of the free resource—unlike some other island states. As climate change increases the odds of more intense droughts on the island, that type of decentralized infrastructure may be just what Puerto Ricans need in an emergency.
波多黎各正经历一场历史性的干旱，在经历了有记录以来最干旱的七月后，该地区已开始实行用水配给。然而，一个现成的解决方案却几乎未被利用：即当地通常充沛的降雨。该地区每年的降水量在 30 到 169 英寸之间，但与一些其他岛屿地区不同，政府并未要求波多黎各的美国公民安装收集系统来利用这一免费资源。随着气候变化增加了岛上发生更严重干旱的可能性，这种分散式基础设施可能正是波多黎各人在紧急情况下所需要的。
“One of the best unused reservoirs of water in Puerto Rico are the roofs of the houses,” says Fernando Abruña, a partner at local firm Abruña & Musgrave Architects.
“波多黎各最好的未利用储水库之一就是房屋的屋顶，”当地建筑事务所 Abruña & Musgrave Architects 的合伙人费尔南多·阿布鲁尼亚（Fernando Abruña）表示。
The drought has exacerbated a water crisis that was already in motion due to ruptured water pipes and other decrepit infrastructure. For the past week, Puerto Rico governor Jenniffer González has ordered municipal governments to shut off water two days at a time for people in the northeast to conserve local supplies, leaving 180,000 households with limited access. The problems began well before that, though: Many families have been without consistent water for more than 100 days.
干旱加剧了因水管破裂和其他破旧基础设施而早已存在的水危机。过去一周，波多黎各总督珍妮弗·冈萨雷斯（Jenniffer González）下令东北部各市政府每隔两天切断一次供水，以节约当地资源，导致 18 万户家庭用水受限。然而，问题在此之前就已经开始了：许多家庭已经超过 100 天没有稳定的供水。
While the drought is a factor, the biggest issue isn’t a lack of water, says environmental lawyer Ruth Santiago, but rather the government’s mismanagement of it. “Even with the climate crisis and these droughts, we still have abundant water,” says Santiago, who works with the local group Comité Diálogo Ambiental (the Environmental Dialogue Committee). “We could be harvesting rainwater right now,” she says as a storm erupts mid-conversation.
环境律师露丝·圣地亚哥（Ruth Santiago）表示，虽然干旱是一个因素，但最大的问题并非缺水，而是政府的管理不善。“即使在气候危机和这些干旱的情况下，我们仍然拥有充足的水资源，”与当地组织“环境对话委员会”（Comité Diálogo Ambiental）合作的圣地亚哥说。“我们现在就可以收集雨水，”她在谈话中途一场暴雨袭来时说道。
The most resilient harvesting systems rely on gravity, using gutters to divert rainwater from a roof to a canister that connects to indoor pipes like a faucet or showerhead. Bigger systems can help collect water to cool power plants and other industrial uses.
最稳健的收集系统依赖重力，利用排水沟将雨水从屋顶引导至储水罐，再连接到室内管道，如水龙头或淋浴喷头。更大规模的系统则可用于收集冷却发电厂及其他工业用途所需的水。
Abruña, who is also a fellow with the American Institute of Architects, estimates the island could gather 30 billion gallons of water a year if just 1 million households used rainwater collection technology. The average resident uses 62 gallons a day, amounting to just over 72 billion gallons of residential water use a year.
同时担任美国建筑师协会研究员的阿布鲁尼亚估计，如果仅有 100 万户家庭使用雨水收集技术，该岛每年可收集 300 亿加仑的水。当地居民平均每天用水 62 加仑，全年居民用水总量略高于 720 亿加仑。
The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority loses about 60 percent of the island’s drinking water before any arrives at customers’ homes due to leaking pipes and failing infrastructure. The ongoing emergency was caused, in part, by a series of ruptures in the 72-inch Superaqueduct water pipe, a main artery that services major cities on the northern coast. Repairing and updating the island’s aging water distribution system is most urgent, Santiago says, but rainwater harvesting is a cost-effective solution that can be quickly implemented.
由于管道泄漏和基础设施老化，波多黎各水务与下水道管理局在水流到达用户家中之前，就会损失掉约 60% 的饮用水。当前的紧急情况部分是由 72 英寸“超级输水管”（Superaqueduct）的一系列破裂引起的，这是服务于北部沿海主要城市的一条大动脉。圣地亚哥认为，修复和更新岛上老化的配水系统最为紧迫，但雨水收集是一种可以快速实施且具有成本效益的解决方案。
The practice is not widespread in Puerto Rico, where the government has prioritized centralized grids fed by freshwater, but these systems are popular in other island communities. Roughly 90 percent of homes in the US Virgin Islands have a cistern to collect rainwater, and the territory has building codes that require many new developments to include this infrastructure. (Barbados has similar codes.) In Hawaii, Honolulu County even offers a limited number of free rain barrel installations to residents.
这种做法在波多黎各并不普及，因为政府一直优先考虑由淡水供应的集中式管网，但这些系统在其他岛屿社区却很受欢迎。美属维尔京群岛约 90% 的家庭拥有收集雨水的蓄水池，该地区还有建筑规范要求许多新开发项目必须包含此类基础设施。（巴巴多斯也有类似的规范。）在夏威夷，檀香山市县甚至为居民提供有限数量的免费雨水桶安装服务。
“There is nothing that can help the Caribbean region as quickly and as reliably as rainwater harvesting,” says Farah Nibbs, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Department of Emergency and Disaster Health Systems, noting governments should treat it “as part of the national water supply.” She also says governments should help cover the costs to avoid putting onerous “economic and financial burdens on households.” Yet in Puerto Rico, the government offers no incentives or financial assistance. That’s left small organizations attempting to meet demand.
马里兰大学巴尔的摩分校紧急与灾害卫生系统系助理教授法拉·尼布斯（Farah Nibbs）表示：“没有什么能像雨水收集那样快速且可靠地帮助加勒比地区。”她指出，政府应将其视为“国家供水系统的一部分”。她还表示，政府应帮助承担相关费用，以避免给家庭带来沉重的“经济和财务负担”。然而在波多黎各，政府不提供任何激励措施或财政援助，这使得小型组织不得不试图满足这一需求。
Since 2010, local environmental nonprofit Plenitud Puerto Rico has donated and installed 73 rainwater harvesting systems for neighbors in Las Marías, a mountainous municipality on the western side of Puerto Rico. Executive codirector Owen Ingley estimates that the technology costs the group $500 to $2,000 for small, simple units and up to $5,000 for larger, more advanced ones with electric pumps. There are also additional costs to maintain the system, especially if a bad storm damages it, and to monitor water quality.
自 2010 年以来，当地环保非营利组织 Plenitud Puerto Rico 已为波多黎各西部山区拉斯马里亚斯（Las Marías）的邻居们捐赠并安装了 73 套雨水收集系统。执行联合主任欧文·英格利（Owen Ingley）估计，小型简单装置的成本为 500 至 2000 美元，而带有电动泵的更大、更先进的装置成本高达 5000 美元。此外，维护系统（特别是在遭受严重风暴损坏时）以及监测水质还需要额外费用。
The team recently installed a unit for a man in his eighties who lives alone and regularly experiences disruptions to his water supply. The system doesn’t provide drinking water, but it helps him meet other household needs such as flushing the toilet or filling his dog’s water bowl. “He’s a really sweet and talkative guy with gray hair and a big smile,” Ingley says.
该团队最近为一位八十多岁独居且经常面临供水中断的老人安装了一套装置。该系统虽然不提供饮用水，但能帮助他满足其他家庭需求，如冲厕所或给狗碗加水。“他是一个非常可爱、健谈的人，有着灰白的头发和灿烂的笑容，”英格利说。
José Pérez Cordero, an at-large legislator in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, introduced a resolution in June that would order the Puerto Rican Natural Resources Committee to conduct a feasibility study on rainwater harvesting. That would include looking at how other Caribbean islands have made it work and adopting similar models for Puerto Rico. The proposal has gone nowhere, even as water insecurity mounts.
波多黎各众议院议员何塞·佩雷斯·科尔德罗（José Pérez Cordero）在六月提出了一项决议，要求波多黎各自然资源委员会对雨水收集进行可行性研究。这包括研究其他加勒比岛屿如何成功实施该方案，并为波多黎各采用类似模式。尽管用水不安全感日益加剧，但该提案至今毫无进展。
“We are, right now, in the perfect moment to do it, because we are in the middle of a crisis,” Pérez Cordero says. “Sadly, we always wait for the reaction.” He points to a 2024 law that mandated all public agencies to implement rainwater collection systems on government buildings. That, too, has gone nowhere: Agencies aren’t following the law, nor is it being enforced. Pérez Cordero’s New Progressive Party is in power, but he says his peers have often lacked the political will to be proactive and prioritize the environment.
“我们现在正处于采取行动的最佳时机，因为我们正处于危机之中，”佩雷斯·科尔德罗说。“遗憾的是，我们总是等到事态恶化才做出反应。”他提到了 2024 年的一项法律，该法律强制要求所有公共机构在政府大楼内实施雨水收集系统。然而，这也毫无进展：各机构并未遵守法律，法律也未得到执行。佩雷斯·科尔德罗所属的新进步党目前执政，但他表示，他的同僚们往往缺乏采取主动并优先考虑环境的政治意愿。
Rainwater harvesting won’t solve all of Puerto Rico’s water problems, particularly in urban locations where it’s hard to install them in large apartment complexes. They also aren’t sustainable.
雨水收集并不能解决波多黎各所有的用水问题，特别是在难以在大型公寓大楼中安装此类系统的城市地区。它们也并非万能的解决方案。