Panama grapples with water scarcity amid climate change and canal demands

Marotta said that during the drought, the increasing demand for drinking water and the overall shortage led to a reduction in the number of daily transits through the canal’s larger Neopanamax and Panamax locks, which dropped from 38 ships per day to a low of 22 ships per day at the height of the drought.

“We’re looking at different options and projects for the future to secure enough water for all operations, which is the canal and drinking water,” Marotta said.

Raisa Banfield, an avid environmentalist and past vice-mayor of Panama City, thinks too much attention is centered around the canal. Banfield said if sustainable water management practices are not implemented, Panama will continue to face water shortages.

“Panama depends on water for many things: agriculture, tourism, energy production and, of course, the canal,” Banfield said. But not the canal only.

“We need to think about alternative solutions,” she said. “The problem is that Panama keeps focusing on the canal, but we need to address how to protect and manage the water for the entire country, not just for one sector. There needs to be a broader, more inclusive approach.”

Banfield also said the impacts of canal expansion and increased ship traffic have contributed to increased salt levels in the freshwater supply, which affects both potability and the lake’s ecosystems. As ships pass through, they bring some saltwater into the freshwater system of the locks, which changes the salinity levels in the lake and its tributaries. Banfield said this requires additional water treatment, making it more expensive and complicated to provide drinking water.

Banfield said these changes impact the taste and quality of drinking water, something residents have noticed.

“Sometimes people feel that the water doesn’t taste good or is saltier. Sometimes they feel that it has color because [historically] the water in Panama has always been very good,” Banfield said. “When it rains less, the taste of the water changes because less freshwater enters the lakes, so that is felt, but since the Panama Canal Authority manages and administers potable water plants and the government distributes it, we have no way of knowing.”

In addition to providing drinking water, the lake sustains much of Panama’s agriculture.

For farm owners such as Liduvina Rivera, lake water is essential for irrigation. Her coffee farm in the area of Cirí Grande and Trinidad provides income for her family. Her rural community, located in the rolling hills of the southern part of the Panama Canal Watershed, is surrounded by dense tropical jungle and fertile soil, making it ideal for agriculture. The watershed includes all bodies of water that are connected to the Panama Canal, and is managed by the Panama Canal Authority.