Threatened by climate change, Panama Canal has big plans to combat drought

2/12/2024 19:41

        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. 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.
        
        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).