- Title: Threatened by climate change, Panama Canal has big plans to combat drought
- Date: 2nd December 2024
- Summary: TRES HERMANAS, PANAMA OESTE, PANAMA (FILE - OCTOBER 24, 2024) (REUTERS) LOCAL RIDING HORSE IN THE AREA THAT WOULD BE FLOODED BY THE RESERVOIR PLANNED TO SUPPLY FRESH WATER TO THE PANAMA CANAL HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF FORESTRY VARIOUS OF LOCAL RIDING HORSE, CROSSING RIVER COWS MOUNTAINS AND VALLEY THAT WOULD BE FLOODED TO SUPPLY FRESH WATER TO THE PANAMA CANAL LOCAL, RODOLFO HERNANDEZ, RIDING HORSE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESIDENT, RODOLFO HERNANDEZ, SAYING: "All that you see here, the green trees seen throughout this area, everything would be lost. So they have to take that into account, they did not ask us, they just go there and do what they have to do and nothing else. On top of that, we just heard the government, yesterday in France, saying that everything is arranged and that they are going to make the lake and they have not yet spoken with us, the Rio Indio community has not yet said yes to them." MIRAFLORES LOCKS, PANAMA OESTE, PANAMA (FILE - OCTOBER 23, 2024) (REUTERS) LOCKS OF THE PANAMA CANAL SHIP WAITING TO CROSS THE LOCKS LOCKS BEING OPENED SHIP PASSING LOCKS VARIOUS OF SHIP CROSSING LOCKS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PANAMA CANAL'S DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA, SAYING: "There is already a kind of start, but of course, the most complicated part is the process of resettling people. These are conversations that need to be held individually with each family, all that process. This does not mean that we cannot simultaneously be working on the technical part of the contract and everything else, those are things that run in parallel." GATUN LAKE, PANAMA (FILE - JANUARY 24, 2024) (REUTERS) LAKE TREE TRUNKS PROTRUDING FROM THE WATER DUE TO LOW WATER LEVEL VARIOUS OF THE LAKE SHORE PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (FILE - OCTOBER 23, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PANAMA CANAL'S DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA, SAYING: "We have just enough to operate and there are already 2.5 million people who consume water from the same lakes, so you have to think that the new reservoir is not just for the canal, it is for the country's water security, for the people's drinking water." TRES HERMANAS, PANAMA OESTE, PANAMA (FILE - OCTOBER 24, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HOUSES NEXT TO FORESTRY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RIO INDIO COMMUNITIES AND ACTIVIST, DILUBINO AGRAJE DOMINGUEZ, SAYING: "The countryside, nature, the peace, for life, for work is what makes them (inhabitants) happy. You can show them beautiful, modern things, all well arranged, but it is not the same for the farmer who is used to living under his thatched roof, taking his time to go to the mountain and resting at home whichever day he wants. The day he does not want to work, he doesn't. That peace, that tranquility that we are living in right now, it is not the same in the city and that is what they (inhabitants) do not want." MIRAFLORES LOCKS, PANAMA OESTE, PANAMA (FILE - OCTOBER 23, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CARGO SHIP PASSING THROUGH THE LOCKS GENERAL VIEW OF PORT PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (FILE - OCTOBER 23, 2024) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE PANAMA CANAL ADMINISTRATION BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ADMINISTRATOR OF THE PANAMA CANAL, RICAURTE VAZQUEZ, SAYING: "The Panama Canal operates with freshwater and that imposes a relative disadvantage in relation to all other maritime navigation systems in the world." VAZQUEZ AT INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ADMINISTRATOR OF THE PANAMA CANAL, RICAURTE VAZQUEZ, SAYING: "And we recognize that this is the case and we understand that this is the most important challenge to maintain the canal's sustainability in the long term in the face of demand, due to Panama's population growth, which will require potable freshwater for consumption and that leads us to the national conversation of how to tackle this problem." MIRAFLORES LOCKS, PANAMA OESTE, PANAMA (FILE - MAY 4, 2024) (REUTERS) WATER BEING TRANSFERRED IN CANAL LOCKS WORKERS THROWING MOORINGS TOWARDS THE CANAL TOWING VEHICLE PULLING CARGO SHIP CARGO SHIP PASSING THROUGH CANAL PULLED BY TOWING VEHICLES
- Embargoed: 16th December 2024 11:10
- Keywords: drought economy markets panama canal reservoir lake strategic planification water shortage waterway
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, PANAMA / FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, UNITED STATES
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, PANAMA / FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, UNITED STATES
- Country: Panama
- Topics: South America / Central America,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001897611112024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The lush river valleys of El Zaino y La Arenosa in western Panama, home to hundreds of families that eke out a living farming, fishing and raising cattle, could soon be submerged by a massive man-made reservoir designed to ensure the viability of the Panama Canal in the face of a changing climate.
Tres Hermanas, with its farms, two schools, churches and a medical clinic, is one of dozens of towns that would disappear in the next six years if the state-owned Panama Canal's ambitious $1.6 billion project goes ahead.
While the Rio Indio dam project was first proposed two decades ago, more extreme weather in the last decade, including a severe drought in the past year that restricted vessel traffic on the canal, has lent greater urgency to the proposal.
The canal accounts for 3.1% of the Central American country's gross domestic product. The waterway, which allows up to 14,000 ships to cross per year, accounts for 2.5% of global seaborne trade and is critical to U.S. imports of autos and commercial goods by container ships from Asia, and for U.S exports of commodities, including liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Residents are divided: some do not want to leave, while others are focused on getting fair compensation if they are forced to move. If they are not satisfied, recent history suggests public opposition could endanger the entire project.
The project still needs to pass a long approval process including a public consultation, discussion by the cabinet and the National Assembly's final green light.
The Canal Authority aims to create a massive dam 840 meters in length and 80.5 meters in height to secure freshwater for its locks. It says the reservoir's 1.25 billion cubic meters of water would allow up to 15 additional vessel transits per day during the dry season, and help provide drinking water to Panama's growing 4.5 million population.
If it wins approval, the dam is expected to be completed by 2030 or 2031, but the clock is ticking: Last year was the third driest in the waterway's 110-year history. The second driest was 2015. Meteorologists forecast Panama will face more severe droughts and faster water evaporation due to higher temperatures in the future.
According to an initial survey by the Canal, the project would demand the relocation of some 2,260 people, and would impact at least partially an additional 2,000 people in the reservoir zone.
A census to count more accurately how many people will be affected is expected to be completed in January, the canal's deputy administrator, Ilya Espino de Marotta, told Reuters in an interview in October.
From an environmental damage point of view, the Rio Indio project could have a greater negative impact and few positive benefits that could not be obtained otherwise, said Professor LeRoy Poff, an expert on aquatic ecology from the University of Colorado, referring to displacement of people and livelihoods, damages downstream for the fish and for the forests.
The recurrence of the El Niño weather phenomenon has accelerated to every three years, extending Panama's dry season and exhausting much of the water resources in the country with the fifth most rainfall in the world.
In preparation for the next drought, the Canal has changed its reservation model, is calling on shippers to consolidate cargoes and is preparing water recycling measures.
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