The level of the Panama Canal is the second lowest in the last 110 years
Michelle Fleury
Role,BBC News sent to Panama
America's most famous waterway is drying.
Unlike the Suez Canal, O Panama Canal it is fed by a freshwater lake, Lake Gatún, and its water level is falling critically.
During a boat ride on the Gatún, Nelson Guerra, a hydrologist with the Panama Canal Authority, a Panamanian government agency, points out a rusty ruler under a tower at the western end of the water.
“The level, as seen on the ruler, is 81.20 feet,” he says. “It should be 1.5 meters more than it is now.”
On the return trip, the boat passes old tree trunks sticking out of the water. They were never completely torn down during the lake's original construction. Only a few would be visible at this time of year. But in the middle of the dry season, there is a forest of them.
The Panama Canal depends on rainwater, which is scarce.
The lack of rain and the El Niño weather phenomenon contributed to the second driest year in the canal's 110-year history.
Last October was the driest on record. In the canal region, it rained 41% less than normal and the drought threatens to continue disrupting the traffic of goods worth US$ 270 billion that circulates every year through the shortcut between the Atlantic and the Pacific.
It was necessary to adopt water-saving measures in the region, which means that fewer ships can pass through the canal every day. This is because water from the lake is needed to operate the canal's locks.
Source: https://diariodorio.com/com-72-bilhoes-de-dolares-rj-bate-recorde-em-exportacoes-e-importacoes-em-2023/
Panama Canal Authority hydrologist Nelson Guerra monitors the water level of Lake Gatún
Effect on maritime trade
The number of ships was reduced from 36 to 24 on average. Additionally, each ship now carries less cargo due to weight restrictions.
The slowdown poses a problem for global trade.
In normal times, about 5% of global maritime trade and 40% of US container traffic uses the canal.
If the route dries up, carriers will be forced to look for alternatives, which will lengthen travel times and increase costs.
And the lack of water is not just a problem for global trade. The Panama Canal Authority also provides drinking water to half of the country's population, including residents of the capital, Panama City.
But those responsible for the channel are taking measures to ensure its viability in the future.
Ilya Espino de Marotta is leading efforts to ensure the canal has enough water to function.
Plans to save water
The Panama Canal Authority's head of sustainability, Ilya Espino de Marotta, says they are working to find solutions to ensure the canal doesn't run out of water.
“We don’t want this to be a recurring problem. We don’t want traffic or the weight limit to decrease,” he tells the BBC.
She has focused on developing a plan to invest US$ 8.5 billion in sustainable projects over the next five years, and hopes she can help the waterway survive even as climate change shakes the planet.
Regarding these climate changes, Ilys Espino Marotta states: “Panama is a country where it rains a lot… but we see that a pattern (of reduced precipitation) is approaching that is affecting all parts. So we definitely have to prepare for the future.”
An obvious measure is saving water.
The Panama Canal works by passing ships through a series of locks above sea level, fed by Lake Gatún and the smaller Lake Alajuela.
Each ship that passes through the locks uses about 50 million gallons of water, and some new locks built in 2016 – the Neo-Panamax locks, the largest – save about 60% of that water.
However, the old Panamax locks remain in operation and renovating them would be a major project. But Marotta found ways to reuse water from the locks, called cross-filling, saving the equivalent of six crossings a day.
It is also considering building reservoirs, its first major project since completing the new set of locks in 2016.
To save more water in the rainy months and increase supplies in drier times, they plan to dam the nearby Indian River and transport the fresh water to Gatún Lake, the canal's main reservoir. The plan would increase ship traffic by between 12 and 15 per day.
But it won't be easy to move forward. The project does not yet have Congressional approval and its construction will take several years to complete.
Another option is to build desalination plants. The lack of rain has increased the salinity of lakes and rivers, a challenge that must be assessed carefully, as it is the country's largest source of drinking water. But this option is expensive and extracting salt from seawater requires a huge amount of energy.
Planting clouds in the hope of more rain is not ruled out. The process of implanting large salt particles into clouds to increase precipitation sounds futuristic, but it has been around since the 1940s.
José Cervantes' company had to move cargo by road and rail
There is no better shortcut
A solution needs to be found to improve the world trade scenario, which has become more unstable this year. Trade volumes through the Panama Canal fell by 49% compared to their peak.
José Cervantes, general director of the Panamanian branch of the shipping company Agunsa, says that daily operations have been affected. Shipments of two million tonnes of goods, from textiles to food, were delayed due to problems in the Canal.
He says the difficulty is that there are no other good shortcuts.
Before the current Red Sea crisis, some ships carrying goods from Asia were diverted through the Suez Canal. With this less safe option, demand for rail and road transportation through Panama has increased.
But José Cervantes says all that unloading and reloading of ship cargo onto trains and trucks increases costs. “And these costs are generally passed on to the consumer,” he says.
If the rains arrive in May as expected, the canal plans to increase the number of ships that can pass through its locks, but this is only a short-term solution.
The changes in precipitation patterns serve as a reminder of the major impact climate change could have on global trade and the long-term future of the Panama Canal.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/czdzeed3e08o