Morovis and PRASA settle dispute over ongoing water outages

By THE STAR STAFF

Morovis Mayor Carmen Maldonado González said the municipality has reached a court-supervised agreement with the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority to resolve a federal lawsuit over persistent water service failures that have left thousands of residents facing chronic interruptions.

Maldonado González said the agreement, which will be supervised by the U.S. District Court, commits PRASA to completing a series of infrastructure projects intended to stabilize potable water service across Morovis. The municipality filed the lawsuit in August 2019 and later appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston to compel action.

“There are families in Morovis who, in a single month, may have water for only a week—or even less,” the mayor said in a written statement. “Thanks to the patience of our residents, the work of our legal team, and now the cooperation of PRASA’s management, we have reached this stage. The court has also required PRASA to submit quarterly progress reports to the municipality. Now it’s time to get to work.”

Maldonado González added that the court‑supervised reporting will allow the municipality to keep residents informed about the pace of construction and the expected timeline for resolving long‑standing service deficiencies.

Morovis has 9,378 registered PRASA customers, most of whom depend on two filtration plants, a deep well, several pumping stations, and reserve tanks. PRASA is currently rehabilitating the Morovis Urbano Filtration Plant, where 59% of the work has been completed. The $13.46 million project is expected to be finished in September.

Work is also underway at the Morovis Sur Filtration Plant, built in 1945 and severely deteriorated after Hurricanes Irma and María. The rehabilitation is 52% complete and is scheduled for completion in April 2027, with a total investment of $51.67 million. As part of the project, the diameter of the main force pipe will be increased from 16 to 24 inches.

In addition, PRASA has completed the Morovis Sur Raw Water Intake project, a $3.29 million initiative that will be inaugurated in August. The upgrade increases raw water extraction capacity from 3 million to 4.5 million gallons.

To improve distribution, PRASA has allocated $38.75 million for a systemwide upgrade that is currently 20% complete and expected to be finished by September 2027. The project includes replacing deteriorated two‑inch pipes with four‑inch lines and installing 128 new air‑release valves. The improvements are designed to meet a daily demand of 3.28 million gallons.

The municipality and PRASA are also evaluating interconnection options and tank capacity increases for the Barahona and Patrón sectors.

Additional projects remain in the design and funding‑identification phase, including plans to replace four‑inch pipes with six‑inch lines in the Barahona, Torrecillas, Unibón, San Lorenzo, and Morovis Norte neighborhoods.