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The coquí is one of the sounds most closely associated with Puerto Rico. After dark, its two-note call comes from gardens, forests and hillsides across the island. A new tourism campaign is using the tiny frog as the symbol for a much larger issue facing Puerto Rico this summer: water.
Discover Puerto Rico has launched Keep the Island Singing, a new water stewardship initiative aimed directly at visitors, with practical guidance on conserving water during their trips.
The campaign arrives as Puerto Rico continues to deal with drought conditions and reduced reservoir levels, including rotating water service in parts of the northeast. Gov. Jenniffer González Colón declared a water-use emergency on July 31, citing low rainfall and declining levels at major reservoirs.
Puerto Rico remains open for travel, and tourism activity continues across the island. The new campaign gives visitors specific information about what they may encounter and what they can do during a stay.
What Is Keep the Island Singing?
The initiative centers on a new visitor resource from Discover Puerto Rico with current water information, conservation guidance and links to official updates.
Discover Puerto Rico plans to update the information as local conditions change. The destination marketing organization is also extending the campaign across its social media channels and providing tourism businesses with materials they can share with visitors.
The coquí provides the campaign’s central image. The small native frog depends on moisture, and its familiar call has long been part of Puerto Rico’s nighttime soundtrack. Discover Puerto Rico is using the connection between rainfall, the island’s ecosystems and the coquí as a simple way to bring water conservation into the visitor conversation.
“Visitors have always played an important role in Puerto Rico’s story, and with that comes a shared responsibility to care for the Island we all love,” Discover Puerto Rico CEO Jorge L. Pérez said in announcing the initiative.
Pérez said the campaign is designed to give travelers practical information on conserving water while continuing to experience Puerto Rico.
What Should You Expect If You’re Visiting Puerto Rico?
The drought does not mean travelers should cancel trips to Puerto Rico.
Tourism businesses remain open across the island, including hotels, restaurants, beaches, attractions and tour operations. Conditions vary depending on the municipality and the property where you’re staying, and Discover Puerto Rico is advising visitors to check directly with their hotel, vacation rental host or tour operator before arriving.
The most significant service changes have been concentrated in northeastern Puerto Rico.
Seven municipalities — San Juan, Carolina, Juncos, Gurabo, Trujillo Alto, Canóvanas and Loíza — have been included in rotating water service connected with conditions at Lago Carraízo, a major source of drinking water for metropolitan San Juan.
The rotation has generally followed a pattern of roughly 48 hours of service followed by 48 hours off, although individual locations and schedules can vary.
Many hotels and vacation rentals have cisterns or rooftop storage tanks. Properties equipped with their own water reserves may continue operating through an off-service period, so travelers may experience little or no interruption.
A quick call to your hotel before departure can tell you whether the property has backup water storage and whether any services have been affected.
Puerto Rico’s Current Drought Emergency
Puerto Rico’s government has taken a series of measures in response to the dry conditions.
The July 31 emergency declaration addressed reduced rainfall and falling reservoir levels and called for water conservation measures across the island. The government also activated the Puerto Rico National Guard to assist with the hauling, distribution and purification of drinking water.
Government agencies have since distributed water in communities affected by service interruptions, while authorities continue drought mitigation efforts across Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities.
The impact varies considerably across the island. Some of the most severe drought conditions have been recorded in southern Puerto Rico, while the rotating municipal water program has affected communities served by the Carraízo reservoir system in the northeast.
Visitors should check conditions for the specific municipality where they’re staying rather than treating the drought as an islandwide service interruption.
What Discover Puerto Rico Is Asking Visitors to Do
The conservation advice is intentionally simple.
Shorter showers are one of the primary recommendations. Visitors are also being encouraged to turn off faucets while brushing their teeth or shaving and to reuse hotel towels and linens when practical.
If you hear a leaking faucet or a running toilet at a hotel or rental property, reporting it to the property is another step the campaign recommends.
Travelers staying in villas and vacation rentals are being asked to run dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads. Discover Puerto Rico also recommends thawing food in a refrigerator rather than beneath running water.
Outdoor water use gets similar attention. Visitors staying at homes or villas should avoid watering gardens or lawns during dry periods and skip washing rental vehicles when conservation measures are in effect.
None of the recommendations requires changing the basic experience of a Puerto Rico vacation. They focus on reducing unnecessary water use during normal activities at hotels, villas and rental homes.
Hotels and Tourism Businesses Are Part of the Campaign
Discover Puerto Rico is also distributing a water stewardship toolkit to hotels, tourism companies and hospitality businesses across the island.
The materials are intended to give tourism operators consistent information they can pass along to visitors.
Travelers may consequently see water-conservation reminders at hotels, vacation rentals and other tourism businesses during upcoming trips.
The visitor campaign places much of the practical communication directly where travelers will encounter it: at the property, through tourism operators, on Discover Puerto Rico’s digital channels and through its dedicated online resource.
Hotels with cisterns and other backup systems can also explain their individual procedures directly to arriving visitors.
Why the Coquí Is at the Center of the Campaign
Puerto Rico’s common coquí is a small frog with an unusually large cultural presence.
Its “co-quí” call can be heard across much of Puerto Rico after dark, from residential neighborhoods to mountain forests. The frog absorbs moisture through its skin and lays its eggs in damp places on land rather than relying on a pond for a traditional tadpole stage.
Rain and humidity play an important role in the environments where coquís live.
Discover Puerto Rico has connected those biological details with the conservation campaign, giving Keep the Island Singing a symbol visitors already associate closely with Puerto Rico.
The campaign also gives travelers something specific to listen for. Step outside a hotel in El Yunque, the mountains, the west coast or many San Juan neighborhoods after dark and the coquí call remains one of Puerto Rico’s most distinctive natural sounds.
Should You Change Your Puerto Rico Trip?
Discover Puerto Rico’s guidance is clear: Puerto Rico remains open to visitors.
Hotels, restaurants, beaches and attractions continue welcoming travelers. Some natural attractions may operate differently if water levels become unusually low, and individual properties may modify pool, laundry, spa or other water-dependent services during local service interruptions.
Checking with your hotel or rental host before departure is the most useful precaution, particularly if you’ll be staying in San Juan, Carolina, Juncos, Gurabo, Trujillo Alto, Canóvanas or Loíza.
If your property has a cistern or rooftop tank, ask how it operates during scheduled service interruptions. Travelers staying in a rental should also ask the host whether there are any instructions related to pumps, tanks or current municipal water schedules.
Official conditions can change as rainfall and reservoir levels change, so travelers with upcoming trips should check current information close to departure.
A New Part of the Puerto Rico Visitor Experience
The campaign adds water conservation to the practical information travelers receive before and during a Puerto Rico vacation.
A shorter shower, a reused towel, a closed faucet while brushing your teeth and a quick report of a leaking fixture are small actions individually. Across millions of visitor nights, the amount of water involved can add up.
Discover Puerto Rico plans to keep updating its visitor guidance as drought conditions change, while local tourism businesses receive their own materials for communicating with travelers.
Puerto Rico’s hotels are open. Its beaches, restaurants, historic districts, rainforests and attractions continue welcoming visitors. Keep the Island Singing asks travelers to add water awareness to the trip, particularly during the current dry period.
And after dark, there’s an easy reminder outside: the two-note call of the coquí.
The post Puerto Rico Launches a New Conservation Campaign for Visitors as Water Emergency Continues appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
