The Panama Canal contemplates the expansion of its watershed through the creation of a reservoir of water in R\u00edo Indio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The administrator of the Panama Canal, Ricaurte V\u00e1squez, warned that the water crisis in the interoceanic route “has not been resolved” despite the arrival of the rainy season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Although the problem has begun to rain has not been solved,” V\u00e1squez said, referring to the water crisis facing the country and the waterway and that transcends the beginning of the rainy season due, he said, “to the current lack of infrastructure to manage this resource at the national level,” said a statement from the Panama Canal Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The arrival of the rains has improved the water level of the Gat\u00fan reservoirs (1913) and Alhajuela (1935) that nourish the Canal<\/strong>, which led to the fact that on 26 May, for the first time so far in 2024, both lakes dawned above the level recorded for the same date of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, the number of daily transits has increased progressively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are currently 32 steps a day and for next July they are expected to increase first to 33 and then to 34, after the seasonal drought of 2023, longer than usual and enhanced by the El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon, forced a gradual reduction in the number of daily steps, which reached 22 in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sign up to receive exclusive content<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is close to the optimal scenario of the Panama Canal of 35 and 36 ships a day, a figure that is given under normal conditions and to which the track hopes to return in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n V\u00e1squez explained today that although Panama is the fifth country in the world where it rains the most, there are a large number of people who lack water in their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, he stressed “to be aware that this is a problem of all and whose solution we must participate collectively,” the communiqu\u00e9 stresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The administrator gave these statements in Penonom\u00e9, about 170 kilometers west of the capital<\/strong>, during an information tour to update on the performance of the waterway in the last year and future projections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There, communicators and students learned about the initiatives promoted by the Canal for the development of a water program that seeks new sources of water and the increase of water storage capacity to ensure the availability of the resource and face increasing demand in the midst of the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project of a new reservoir<\/strong> However, there is a community of about 2,500 people, who are guaranteed that in the event of some of their properties being flooded they will receive compensation for the construction of a new house and the provision of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n V\u00e1squez referred to this issue during the informative tour in raising the implications of the construction of that reservoir in that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Panama Canal envisages the expansion of its watershed through the creation of a reservoir of water in R\u00edo Indio – west of the same basin – as the most feasible solution to deal with the water crisis, but must first go through a government approval process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n