波多黎各正經歷歷史性的乾旱與嚴重的水資源危機，導致當地實施分區供水，數十萬家庭面臨缺水困境。然而，專家指出真正的問題並非完全缺乏水資源，而是政府長期對供水基礎設施的疏忽與管理不善。由於管線老舊與破裂，當地自來水公司在將飲用水輸送到用戶家中之前，就已經流失了高達百分之六十的水量。

面對這種緊急情況，專家強烈建議推廣雨水收集系統作為一種具備成本效益且能迅速實施的解決方案。儘管該地區每年的降雨量相當豐沛，但政府目前並沒有強制要求或提供資金補助來鼓勵居民安裝這些設施。如果能有百萬戶家庭採用這項技術，波多黎各每年將能收集數百億加侖的水資源，從而大幅減輕現有中央供水系統的負擔。

雖然當地已經有部分非營利組織介入，協助弱勢居民安裝小型的雨水收集設備，但相關的立法推動卻停滯不前。即使二零二四年有一項要求公共建築安裝該系統的法律，目前也未能獲得有效執行。隨著氣候變遷加劇，未來的旱季將變得更長，推動這種分散式的基礎設施將是波多黎各提升氣候韌性的關鍵。（關鍵數字：2024）

Puerto Rico is experiencing a historic drought and a severe water crisis that has led to water rationing, leaving hundreds of thousands of households with limited access. However, experts point out that the real problem is not a complete lack of water resources, but rather the government's prolonged neglect and mismanagement of the water supply infrastructure. Due to aging and ruptured pipes, the local aqueduct authority loses up to sixty percent of its drinking water before it even reaches consumers' homes.

In response to this emergency, experts strongly recommend promoting rainwater harvesting systems as a cost-effective and rapidly deployable solution. Despite the region receiving abundant annual rainfall, the government currently does not mandate or provide financial incentives to encourage residents to install these facilities. If a million households adopted this technology, Puerto Rico could collect tens of billions of gallons of water annually, thereby significantly reducing the burden on the existing centralized water grid.

Although some local nonprofit organizations have stepped in to help vulnerable residents install small rainwater collection units, legislative efforts to promote the practice on a larger scale have stalled. Even a 2024 law requiring public buildings to install these systems has not been effectively enforced. As climate change intensifies and dry seasons are expected to become longer in the future, advancing such decentralized infrastructure will be a key factor in improving Puerto Rico's climate resilience.