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Why is the Corridor at Risk?
 Local developers are proposing the construction of two residential-tourism projects, the San Miguel Four Seasons Resort and the Dos Mares Marriott Resort. These projects amount to luxury urbanizations disguised as hotels. In reality the immense majority of the proposed structures would be high coast residences. Additionally, the builders are also prosing the construction of three new golf courses in the Corridor in a region that already has 14.
- Lack of Water
Thousands of residents in the surrounding towns of Río Grande, Luquillo, Fajardo and Ceiba suffer from water rationing every day. These projects stand to seriously worsen the scarcity of water in the eastern region of Puerto Rico. Unfortunately even with the water from the new Northeastern Regional Aqueduct in Fajardo, it’s estimated that there will be a deficit of 4 million gallons daily in the region, and that’s without adding the construction of the projects proposed in the Corridor. This quantity of water is equivalent to the needs of 25,000 people every day.
- The environment
The Corridor is one of the last expanses of undeveloped coastal ecosystems in all of Puerto Rico. The proposed project will impact coastal forests, wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs, a bioluminescent bay and miles of virgin beach that serve as habitat for more that 40 rare, vulnerable, endangered, or endemic species. Additionally, the Corridor is one of the three most important nesting sites in US jurisdiction for the leatherback turtle, the largest marine turtle on earth.
- Limiting access to the beach
The developers have asked the government for an exception to the law that requires free access to the beach through the main entrance, essentially privatizing beaches, public lands and natural resources for the exclusive benefit of the residents and guests at these luxury facilities.
Photo courtesy Jennifer Hattam/Sierra Club Collection; all rights reserved.
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