The agency cited the restoration of the commercial food and water supply chain and the availability of private suppliers.
Hector Pesquera, Puerto Rico’s state coordinating officer, said in a statement: "The government of Puerto Rico is waiting for critical data provided by FEMA in order to determine when the responsibilities should be transferred from FEMA to the government of Puerto Rico, as part of the transition from the response phase to the recovery phase.
Alejandro De La Campa, FEMA’s director in Puerto Rico, told NPR that helping to jumpstart the island’s economy is a part of the long-term recovery efforts.
"It is affecting the economy of Puerto Rico.
So we need to create a balance.
Ninety-six percent of the island has access to drinking water, according to the government of Puerto Rico, though a boil water advisory remains in effect.
"Interesting FEMA says the PR Gov has a $1.2 million reimbursement for San Juan and PR’s OMB says hey have nothing.
‘Mission accomplished’?"
FEMA has distributed more than 65 million liters of bottled water and more than 58 million meals to regional staging areas for distribution to local communities since Hurricane Maria’s landfall.
Despite the shift from emergency operations, aid remains in Puerto Rico.

Washington, January 31, 2018 – A US$210 million World Bank project will improve the quality of drinking water supply and wastewater services to 5 million residents in Baghdad who suffer from water shortages and the outbreak of waterborne diseases due to inadequate infrastructure, rapid population growth, and the inflow of internally displaced people.
The Baghdad Water Supply and Sewerage Improvement Project, approved today by the World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors will support the Mayoralty of Baghdad and the Baghdad Water and Sewerage Authorities through improvement in utility management, and generate employment during the construction, operation and maintenance stages of implementation.
The project will also help reduce the incidence of water-borne diseases and improve the quality of life, health, and sanitation.
“The recently completed National Water and Land Strategy (2015-2035) indicates that Baghdad will need substantial investments in its water supply and wastewater treatment systems over the next 20 years.
“In close coordination with the International Finance Corporation, this project will focus on creating a more favorable business environment, and on supporting the preparation of feasibility studies and transactions to enable private sector participation in the water sector.” The residents of Baghdad deal with daily water service interruptions, especially during the hot summer months.
Baghdad is one of the governorates impacted by outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
Leakage from sewer pipes contaminates potable water networks and groundwater aquifers, which aggravates health and environmental problems.
Contaminated water supply and improper disposal of sewage force families to spend a significant fraction of their income on medical treatment and to purchase bottled water.
“We are committed to improving public services for the residents of Baghdad and to alleviating the burden households face on a daily basis in getting clean and reliable water supply.
We are confident that improved access to these services can significantly strengthen people’s trust and confidence in the state and contribute to building social cohesion when it is most needed”.

As President Trump prepares to put infrastructure in the spotlight, we encourage Congress to stand up for greater water infrastructure investment and insist on nature-based solutions to restore and modernize our nation’s infrastructure.
Unfortunately, in communities across the country, clean drinking water is at risk.
Last year, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a report card on the nation’s infrastructure.
Drinking water systems received “D” grades.
Dear Congress, stand up for water infrastructure investment & nature-based solutions for our nation’s infrastructure.Click To Tweet We must bring our water infrastructure up to modern standards – our health, economy and well-being depend on it.
While fixing old pipes must be on the “to do” list, we should also prioritize nature-based solutions to managing our water resources.
These innovative approaches not only deliver clean water, they have multiple benefits for communities – saving money, creating jobs and improving lives.
It can mean restoring floodplains instead of building taller levees.
Our report “Naturally Stronger” documents how cities including Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Washington, DC are successfully using nature-based solutions to secure reliable water supplies, create good jobs, keep water rates affordable, increase community parks and green space, and reduce flooding.
As President Trump puts infrastructure in the spotlight, American Rivers will be urging Congress to reject the President’s proposals to weaken bedrock environmental laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act.

Residents will be allowed 25 liters (6.6 gallons) per person per day at 200 collection points.
When reservoirs fall to a certain level, city leaders will do what was, until recently, unthinkable: cut water service and set up 200 distribution points around the city where residents can collect 25 liters (6.6 gallons) per person per day.
“With the drastic reduction in consumption that will be seen once taps are turned off and collection points are activated, the last reserves are expected to stretch far enough to see us through to the rainy season,” the plan states.
One hundred forty-nine of the 200 sites have been confirmed, and city officials say they will publish maps in the coming weeks with locations.
How will elderly or disabled people get access?
Water will be shut off to most homes and businesses when water stored in the city’s six main reservoirs drops below 13.5 percent of capacity, the day known as Day Zero.
“It is avoidable if we just do the little each one of us is expected to do.” Mokonyane also pointed out that many Cape Town residents are still using more water than the official target of 87 liters (23 gallons) per day.
Households in Cape Town that consistently use more water than the target can be forced to use less.
According to local news reports, Cape Town is installing some 2,000 devices per week that restrict the flow of water into a home.
Contact Brett Walton

We need to design and manage these collection points in a way that makes sense.
In order to ensure effective implementation, the Disaster Risk Management team is labouring over questions such as: What range and size of containers will people choose to use; how will they carry these containers to and from the standpipe; what time of day will they come to the collection point; what transport will they opt to use to and from the collection point; how will families and neighbours organise themselves to collect water in a way that makes sense; who within the household or business will be designated to collect water and for how many people will they collect.
But if people in a lower-lying area do not stick to this allocation, people in higher-lying areas are affected.
Is the City’s water system sophisticated enough to selectively cut off areas and supply the water distribution points?
Water collection points, which will be one of the means of distributing water, have been located near reticulation points.
What plans does the City have for less able and vulnerable people to get water from Day Zero?
Smith: We are very aware that special provisions need to be made to ensure that all people are able to access water, particularly those who are physically unable to collect it from a water collection point.
This is anticipated to increase the efficiency of the water collection points and assist persons who are not physically able to carry water from water collection points.
Being connected to borehole water would mean that these schools would be able to keep their toilets operating even if they are not being supplied with water via the reticulation system.
Of interest is that Smith said: People will be able to collect water at any of the points; water will be free; identity documents will not be required; Disaster Management will provide some containers for people who don’t have, but people are expected to bring their own; 149 sites have been identified with each having 50 to 72 taps; each site’s hours will be determined by its person in charge and “vehicle sites will be monitored closely so that people don’t bring huge tanks and fill them.

This conclusion suggests the federal government may be neglecting its best option for ending advisories: supporting efforts to train operators of First Nations water systems.
The federal government has promised to eliminate all drinking-water advisories, which Health Canada recommends be issued when drinking water is deemed unsafe.
"If your operator’s not particularly well trained, or not trained to the level where they understand all the elements of their system, you’re more likely to have trouble," Dr. McBean said.
ISC’s proposed solution for ending 32 advisories is to build a new water-treatment plant.
The training at that time was so increased that I could have gone to training every week."
More than two-thirds of those operating ISC-funded systems were certified in 2016.
Natuashish, a remote reserve in Labrador, offers an example of how unqualified operators can complicate efforts to provide safe drinking water.
ISC’s protocols state that water-systems operators must meet the certification requirements of the province in which they work.
The lack of regulations means First Nations operators may not receive sufficient time or funding from their employers to get and maintain their certifications, Mr. Gagnon added.
Despite the federal government’s promised surge in funding to end drinking-water advisories, First Nations operators and the organizations hoping to train them say they continue to operate in a climate of austerity.

Even plastic waste that has been collected for recycling can find its way into the environment, says the Commission.
Currently, there is no clear incentive for consumers and producers to switch to solutions that would generate less waste or litter.
It says that additional measures at EU and national levels can be developed to reduce unnecessary generation of plastic waste, especially waste from single-use items or over-packaging, and to encourage the reuse of packaging.
What the EU calls “extended producer responsibility schemes” at national level can also help curb plastic litter.
Awareness campaigns, measures to prevent littering and projects to clean up beaches can, the Commission believes, be set up by public authorities and receive support from EU funds, for instance through the European Solidarity Corps (ESC).
These and other possible ways of cutting the use of plastics, and encouraging plastics recycling, were recently unveiled in the Commission’s plastics strategy which has generated a generally favourable response.
BusinessEurope, the Brussels-based organisation that represents Europe’s business community at EU level, describes the strategy as “an important step forward in the circular economy action plan.” The strategy settles an ambitious target – by 2030, all plastics packaging placed on the EU market should be reusable or recyclable in a cost-effective manner.
More than half of plastics waste in general should be recyclable by 2030 while today it is less than 30 per cent.
BusinessEurope Director General Markus Beyrer told this website, “European industry is fully committed to shifting to a more circular Europe, but the circular economy needs to make business sense.
“We welcome the plastics strategy, which is relatively balanced between environmental and economic considerations, and the intention to look for voluntary pledges to boost recycled plastics rather than immediately jump to regulatory actions.” He went on, “We agree that any new EU measures should be in line with the better regulation principles, and that an impact assessment should be carried out when measures are likely to have a significant socio-economic impact.” But, Beyrer cautioned, “However, we would like to see more clarity on the potential EU-wide fiscal measures as well as the proposed private-led fund for financing investments for innovations and technologies.” He added, “We support the Commission’s intention to first enter into a dialogue with stakeholders on these matters.” Stakeholders have until 12 February to the ongoing public consultation on the strategy which was unveiled in Strasbourg on 16 January.

Cape Town is facing a dystopian future – on 12 April, dubbed Day Zero, the South African city is expected to become the world’s first major metropolis to run out of water.
“For weeks, residents of South Africa’s second most populous urban area have been forming long lines to collect water every day,” ABC News reports.
Cape Town plans to shut its pipe network and instead designate 200 water collection points once dam levels reach 13.5%.
The city’s four million residents will then be allocated 25 litres of water a day.
Some residents are stockpiling water from natural springs, while others are believed to be turning to the black market.
“This should be a wake-up call for city authorities and national governments around the world,” says the Financial Times.
“Many of the world’s largest cities are acutely vulnerable to the effects of climate change – longer droughts, heavier rainfall, rising sea levels, fiercer wildfires, worsening air pollution and searing heatwaves.” As the crisis worsens, The Week investigates how life without running water might look.
Meanwhile, Cape Town’s population has grown by almost 80% since 1995, from about 2.4 million to an estimated 4.3 million.
According to Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille, 60% of Capetonians are “callously” using more than the current recommended limit of 87 litres per day.
The South African says bottled water company SAB has offered to provide the Western Cape government with nine million litres of bottled water for public distribution from the day taps in the province get turned off.

According to WaterAid, a global advocacy group on water and sanitation, India has more than 63 million people that do not have access to clean drinking water, more than any other country in the world RBL Bank, one of India’s fastest growing Banks, in partnership with AquaKraft announced that it would provide Water ATMs (aquatm’s) across 20 rural branches spread across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
The aquatm’s will have a capacity of 500 to 1000 litres per day and will vend water at the IRCTC approved rates of Re 1/- for 300 ml, Rs.
3/- per litre & Rs.
5/- per litre.
The filtration process uses green technology leading to no wastage of water (unlike Reverse Osmosis) and works on gravity with very limited use of electricity.
These aquatm’s will be operated and managed by Women Entrepreneurs/SHGs / Youth Clubs and will be delivered in clay bottles instead of plastic in line with the green infrastructure project outlined by the Government of India.
Under this partnership, RBL Bank will provide access to the Water ATMs at each of the identified branches while Aquakraft will implement the initiative.
This innovation from Aquakraft of creating sustainable drinking water infrastructure across identified locations to leveraging the rural women to manage the same leading to livelihood creation is a compelling reason for us to enter into this partnership.
This will further create a positive impact on the lives of rural women who have to travel miles to have clean and safe drinking water.” “This is not just a mere CSR initiative, but a long-term integrated social development partnership.
We were very impressed by the focused approach of RBL Bank to make a difference to lives of women by emancipating them with their basic needs and hence structured this model.

When will a detailed policy and operational plan be published on the Day Zero water collection points?
In order to ensure effective implementation the Disaster Risk Management Team is labouring over questions such as: What range and size of containers will people choose to use; how will they carry these containers to and from the standpipe; what time of day will they come to the collection point; what transport will they opt to use to and from the collection point; how will families and neighbours organise themselves to collect water in a way that makes sense; who within the household or business will be designated to collect water and for how many people will they collect.
For the water to reach different areas, pressure must be managed.
But if people in a lower-lying area do not stick to this allocation, people in higher-lying areas are affected.
Water collection points, which will be one of the means of distributing water, have been located near reticulation points.
What plans does the City have for less able and vulnerable people to get water from Day Zero?
JP Smith: We are very aware that special provisions need to be made to ensure that all people are able to access water, particularly those who are physically unable to collect it from a water collection point.
Will the City provide public transport services to help people get to and from water points and will these be free?
JP Smith: Able-bodied residents will need to find their own way of getting to and from the collection points.
Are there plans for providing water to essential services if the water levels drop to a point where water can’t be provided?