Nearly 3 million (30 lakh) Cubans experience water shortages every day because of a severe oil shortage that government officials blame on a US energy blockade, authorities said late on Wednesday during a roundtable discussion regarding the impact of the ongoing blockade. The island's water system is operating with only 37 per cent of the required fuel as Cuba faces its worse energy crisis. The water system is one of the sectors most affected because it is one of the country's largest energy consumers, said Antonio Rodriguez, president of the state-run National Institute of Water Resources. Details of the forum focussed on the intermittent water supply affecting an overall population of nearly 10 million (one crore) people were published on Thursday by the official website Cubadebate.

Rodriguez said that not only does water pumping consume electricity, but all of the agency's essential activities require fuel, from unclogging pipes and cleaning septic tanks to repairing leaks. Chemical supplies are also needed, and their import is currently paralysed. According to Rodriguez, the agency once purchased parts and other supplies worth some USD 100 million annually, but in the last year, purchases totalled only about USD 10 million given a total suspension of credit. Many suppliers are placing contracts on hold as they assess when it might be advantageous to deliver supplies to Cuba or what obstacles might arise in processing bank payments, not to mention the limitations on shipping services, he said. Complicating the problem is aging infrastructure and oversaturated pumping stations, especially in large cities like Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Matanzas, Rodriguez said.