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Panama Canal Needs More Water To Keep Ships in Transit

If you want to have a sailboat delivered from Europe across more than 9,000 miles of salt water to California, a major factor in the price and schedule is the 51 miles of fresh water contained in the Panama Canal. Each ship passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific takes about 50 million gallons of water to transit the canal. The Canal Authority now reports that droughts caused by climate change are forcing them to limit the number of ships, thus raising prices for everything passing through.

In December 2023, canal authorities reduced the number of ships transiting the canal to 22 per day, down from 36 to 38, due to drought conditions. “More than 160 ships were stuck at anchor at both ends,” the New York Times reports. This year, May rains enabled around 35 ships a day to make the transit in recent weeks. But the canal authorities see this as “merely a respite” due to the influence of “climate change and frequent periods of El Niño, when ocean temperatures rise and rainfall decreases.”

Last summer was the first time traffic through the canal was restricted. On average, 13,000 vessels pass through the canal in a normal year. Since October 2023, that average has been running at an annual number of 10,000. Previous droughts resulted in requiring heavier ships to limit their weight loads to reduce the risk of running aground. This past year, along with the reduction in numbers, the same weight-reduction measures were put in place, with ships unloading containers that were then transported to the other end of the canal by train or truck.

Water is also pulled from storage tanks alongside the canal.
© 2024

With each ship’s passage through the canal requiring around 50 million gallons of water, the current reservoir system running from Lake Gatún is not going to be enough to keep the canal running. One solution under discussion is a dam on the Rio Indio, which runs southwest of Lake Gatún, creating “another reservoir” that could replenish the canal during droughts. The dam would also flood the homes of 2,000 people, all of whom would need to be relocated and could thereby lose their means of earning their living. This project had been under discussion for decades, but “an old law made the river beyond reach of the watershed controlled by the canal.” Panama’s supreme court has “struck down” that rule, giving the green light for the new dam, which is expected to take six years to build at a cost of $1.6 billion.

“Fortunately, we now have a path forward,” Victor Vial, the canal’s chief financial officer, told the New York Times. “That should take care of the next 50 years.”

Canal authorities are now also working with those whose homes and livelihoods will be affected, “exploring places to relocate villages, opening outreach offices in affected communities” and more, including helping families receive compensation for the loss of the lands they have farmed for years.

Hopefully the new dam system will also take care of some of the rising costs of goods being transported around the globe.

Sailing

4 Comments

  1. Peter R Swain 2 months ago

    I find it very interesting that no mention is made of the fact that Panama, when they achieved control of the former canal zone, allowed wide spread logging and deforestation of the water sheds surrounding Gatun lake and Madden lake a primary supplemental reservoir. Now when rains happen the denuded earth sucks up much of it before it reaches lakes. This was always carefully managed when U.S. controlled Zone, now not at all. Easy scapegoat is Climate change. I was born in Colon in 1954, left Zone in 74. My father was a pilot on canal 52 to 79. He retired 2 days prior to treaty giving canal 2 days prior to it happening.

    • Peter Bennett 2 months ago

      Thanks Jimmy Carter for giving away the canal. Now the Chinese control both ends and could care less about conservation. As with a lot of Latin American countries, Panama’s government is also less concerned about conservation and more about money. I have transited the canal three times and it was an amazing experience each time.

  2. Peter R Swain 2 months ago

    Did my first transit in late 50’s with my pop. Probably transited more than 50 times, twice in 1970 when I was 12 to 4 ordinary seman on a tanker as a summer job. My dad let me command a ship into Gatun locks South bound as a 12 year old, pretty cool. Had a great life growing up there in the day. Also raced thru most of the canal in 4 man cayucos, pulled out at North end of Gatun and relaunched in lake but locked down thru Miraflores and Pedro Miguel. 2 2nd places.

  3. MAGGIE HOOD 2 months ago

    This was a very enlightening story! Had not heard of the water shortage issue….scary for all!

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