Rivera Schatz signals weak Senate support for plan to expropriate community aqueduct lands
By THE STAR STAFF
Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz warned Tuesday that a proposal empowering the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) to expropriate land used by community aqueduct systems is unlikely to gain traction in the upper chamber.
In written statements posted to his social media accounts, Rivera Schatz said the legislation — now under consideration in the island House of Representatives — has “little sympathy” in the Senate, particularly because it relies on government intervention to resolve issues that, he argued, could be handled case by case.
The measure seeks to authorize the use of eminent domain to transfer property titles for land where wells, tanks and other infrastructure belonging to non-PRASA community systems are located. The systems serve communities that do not receive potable water directly from PRASA and are managed by community organizations or other entities.
Rivera Schatz questioned whether government intervention is necessary at all.
“The issue of ‘expropriation’ in the matter of community wells is a step backward in empowering the people. Who is asking for this and why?” he wrote. “Each case can always be evaluated under the premise of the strict and minimally necessary intervention of the government.”
He added that while some communities may face administrative or ownership challenges, establishing a broad expropriation mechanism raises concerns about whether the government intends to manage the systems itself or transfer them to private entities.
“Of course there will be difficulties or inconveniences in some cases, in some communities, but the government expropriating? To administer it or to hand it over to a ‘private entity’?” he said.
Rivera Schatz also argued that the government should focus first on addressing longstanding issues within PRASA’s own water system before intervening in community-run operations.
“The government must fix its own problem with PRASA before ‘messing around’ with community wells,” he stated.
The proposal remains under evaluation in the House, where lawmakers are weighing whether expropriation is the appropriate mechanism to resolve disputes over land ownership and infrastructure management in non-PRASA systems.
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