The director of operations of the Corporación Acueductos y Alcantarillados de Santo Domingo, Juan Ramón Guzmán confirmed that less water is entering the city potable water system. He told El Caribe newspaper that potable water levels are down to 294 million gallons a day, when demand is 350 million gallons a day. This is causing a water scarcity in several uptown barrios. He said that to meet the demand, the water department of the city would reconnect wells that had been closed when the Valdesia Dam entered into operation in 1993. It has not been raining since December, which has reduced water levels at city sources. Guzmán said that the drought primarily affects the Haina-Manoguayabo river basin, and the western, northern areas of the city and those southwest of the Av. J. F. Kennedy that feed directly off the Haina-Manoguayabo system. El Caribe newspaper also publishes an article reporting that the indiscriminate extraction of sand and gravel from the Haina River for government work construction works has affected the flow of the river.
