Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rico residents are losing running water for two days at a time as authorities impose emergency rationing amid a severe drought.

Households served by the Carraízo reservoir have been divided into two groups, with each losing water for 48 hours on a rotating schedule. Officials have not said when the restrictions will end.

The rationing affects seven regions and approximately 180,000 properties, including portions of the capital, San Juan.

Puerto Rico experienced its driest July on record, and about 68% of the island is now facing drought conditions ranging from moderate to severe, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Governor Jenniffer González said rationing became necessary after officials examined the rapidly declining Carraízo reservoir and reviewed the latest weather forecasts.

“This situation is beyond our control,” González said. “It is the result of the weather conditions we have been facing, which experts had warned about weeks ago.”

But the drought is only part of Puerto Rico’s water crisis.

The island’s water authority estimates that approximately 65% of the water it produces is either lost or never billed, much of it because of leaking and deteriorating pipes. Experts also say sediment buildup has reduced the capacity of reservoirs to store water.

As supplies are shut off, residents have been lining up at government water tankers to fill large bottles and household containers.

“It’s unbelievable to live through this today,” San Juan resident Gloriany Baba told CBS, describing the situation as “brutal.”

Confusion over the rationing schedule has added to residents’ frustration.

People in the Morcelo area, south of San Juan, were told their water would return Friday and remain available until Sunday. However, residents told local media that their taps remained dry.

“People are uncertain because they know we’re in the 48-hour window where we’re supposed to have drinking water,” community leader Rubén Torres told El Nuevo Día.

Puerto Rico has imposed similar restrictions before. During droughts in 2015 and 2020, some 400,000 households received running water only once every three days.

The latest shortage comes as the island continues struggling with aging infrastructure and increasingly severe weather. Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico’s electrical grid in 2017 and contributed to thousands of deaths.

González told CNN that more than 1,000 wildfires were also burning across Puerto Rico. She said rain may return after a large cloud of Saharan dust moves away from the Caribbean.

“It’s a difficult situation,” she said, adding that the federal government was providing assistance.

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