2023-06-20 21:49:09
It is a masterpiece of engineering more than a century old, the calling card of a country. The Panama Canal is 82 kilometers of canals and locks to connect the Pacific to the Atlantic.
A maritime link vital for global trade, but also dependent on fresh water, a precious resource in a warming world.
These days, Panama is experiencing its worst drought in 75 years. Overwhelmed, the authorities declared an environmental emergency. For the channel, too, things are difficult.
This is quite a warning signal, supports the assistant administrator of the Panama Canal. Ilya Espino De Marotta talks regarding a critical situation that pushes her to scrutinize the weather reports every morning.
I don’t see any clouds on the horizon. It is worrying. Our water supplies are dwindling, but we don’t see the rain coming, she says.
And without rain, the entire business model of the channel is at stake.
Ilya Espino De Marotta, Deputy Administrator of the Panama Canal
Photo: Radio-Canada / Yanik Dumont Baron
A feeling of the end of the world
It takes 200 million liters of water for each of the 30 ships that pass through the locks each day. A huge amount of water, stored in two huge tanks.
Suffice to say that the smooth running and profitability of the canal depend on the reserves of fresh water accumulated in two huge artificial lakes.
Regulars will tell you: there is a lot less water in Lake Alajuela these days. It is one of the two artificial reservoirs that feed the canal, along with Lake Gatún.
The water level has dropped a lot, confirms Angela, who came to bathe when the mercury exceeded 30 degrees Celsius. Before, the water went all the way to the blue part over there.
She points to a metal structure on stilts. A small drinking water pumping station for area residents. The legs appear to be at least five meters long.
We see the climate changing before our very eyes, she says.
Of course, it is normal for the lake level to drop during the dry season. But this year, the extent of the drought is scary.
It can be seen everywhere in the country: the land is dry, the animals are dying from the heat, from the lack of water. It makes me think of the end of the world, she says, a slight smile on her face.
At the village of Nueva Vigia, Lake Alajuela has retreated several hundred meters. The canoes rest on what was the bottom of the lake last year.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Yanik Dumont Baron
Another illustration of the phenomenon a little further, in the village of Nuevo Vigia. There, the banks have receded a few hundred meters in recent months. Herbs have replaced algae.
To go fishing, you now have to walk for long minutes on what used to be the bottom of the lake. Corn and cucumbers were sown next to the beached canoes.
Very uncertain harvests, explains David. The worms have already attacked the shoots, and the heat does not help. If the rains fall, the crops might be good.
The farmer does not have too many illusions. The land is still dry, and the rainy season is late. Conditions that will be accentuated in the coming months by the El Niño phenomenon.
The next few months will be difficult for David and his family, who rely on the harvest to survive for part of the year. What are we going to eat if nothing grows? he asks.
Taps that have become decorative
Look at the faucet. There is no water. There is no water, repeats Elvia, a mother living in the suburbs of Panama. She quips: Faucets have become decorative!
Large blue and white plastic containers have also been added to the decor of their interior courtyard in recent months. Canisters connected by large white plastic tubes.
A desperately dry tap
Photo: Radio-Canada / Yanik Dumont Baron
It is in these containers that the hundreds of liters delivered by tank truck twice a month are stored. In the neighborhood, every drop counts. You have to hold on until the next delivery.
I control the water in the house, reveals Elvia. Here, you can’t wash with a big pot. You have to rinse with a smaller pot. Same thing for rinsing the dishes.
A situation that arises from the enlargement of the suburbs and the fact that the water of half of the country’s inhabitants comes from the same reservoirs that supply the canal.
We are not part of the priorities, she says bitterly. The more recent dwellings are still connected to the aqueduct network. And the canal continues to use millions of liters every day.
Many people here come from the countryside with the hope of improving their quality of life. But this kind of water system [les livraisons par camion]it’s worse than in the countryside, she argues.
A delicate balance
On a daily basis, canal administrators must take into account the needs of the population. It is written in the law. An obligation complicated by the climatic upheavals already observed.
The year 2016 was very dry, recalls Ilya Espino De Marotta. 2019 was very dry too. 2023 too. Dry years return more often than before.
Grasses grow in what was the bottom of Lake Alajuela, near Nueva Vigia.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Yanik Dumont Baron
An acceleration that might presage a new climatic reality in Panama. That of a country that must review its relationship with fresh water.
It’s a delicate balance, explains the assistant administrator of the Panama Canal. We want to ensure that there is always drinking water for residents.
The risk, of course, is to jeopardize the reliability of the canal as a waterway. Already, administrators have had to impose restrictions on the maximum tonnage of container ships.
The threshold is currently slightly above what those responsible for the work consider decent, that is to say sufficient to be profitable for maritime companies.
We can decrease [le tonnage] until a certain point. Afterwards, we would no longer be considered a reliable route. New sources of water are needed.
These buoys attached to the shores of Lake Alajuela clearly indicate how far the water went before the current dry period.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Yanik Dumont Baron
Various scenarios are being studied to preserve this balance between the needs of commerce and those of the population, including the creation of another reservoir of fresh water.
Depending on the options selected, the bill might exceed 2.5 billion Canadian dollars. Money won’t be a problem, she says. After all, the channel remains very profitable.
Ilya Espino De Marotta believes it will be more complicated to convince elected officials and residents to act quickly. Unless the crisis really wakes up the spirits.
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