FEMA OKs $257M investment to improve performance of Toa Vaca reservoir
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved a proposed project that will increase the performance of the Toa Vaca reservoir in Villalba by investing more than $257 million in reconstruction funds.
“This is yet another pressing infrastructure project funded by the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) for drought mitigation, important at a time like this,” Central Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency (COR3) Executive Director Manuel Laboy, upon announcing the federal funding approval.
“Once completed, Puerto Rico’s southern region will have greater reliability in the water supply,” Rivera said.
The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) proposed the design and construction of this project that will divert water from the Bauta River to a tributary of the Toa Vaca River to increase the reservoir’s water level. The expansion of the current Toa Vaca treatment plant or the construction of a new one was also approved.
“Faced with climate change and variation in rainfall patterns that have affected the availability of water resources, PRASA focuses on resilient projects that seek to minimize the impact of dry seasons and other climate change events,” agency President Doriel Pagán said.
“The construction of the Bauta tunnel contemplates increasing the safe yield for the Toa Vaca reservoir. This is one of more than 40 projects that directly address the impact of droughts, increasing the availability of water resources,” she said.
This project will result in an increase in the safe yield of the reservoir from 16 million gallons per day (MGD) to 29.9 MGD. In addition, it will increase the treatment capacity from 7.5 MGD to 20.5 MGD, as well as the installation of new transmission pipelines to transport potable water to the areas currently served by groundwater wells, Laboy explained.
Once the project is implemented — which will be carried out in two phases — the operation of the existing water supply wells will be discontinued, allowing the 13.02 MGD of water, currently extracted by the wells, to be used for the restoration of the aquifer, officials said.
