A severe drought that began last year has forced authorities to slash ship crossings by 36% in the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important trade routes.

A severe drought that began last year has forced authorities to slash ship crossings by 36% in the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important trade routes.

The new cuts announced Wednesday by authorities in Panama are set to deal an even greater economic blow than previously expected.

Canal administrators now estimate that dipping water levels could cost them between $500 million and $700 million in 2024, compared to previous estimates of $200 million.

  • @grueEnglish
    2•10 months ago

    Is the issue just that the fill rate from fresh sources is too slow to handle the previous volume of traffic or that it diverts fresh water away from downstream consumers?

    I think just the former. Considering that the locks are basically adjacent to the coast on each side, there’s not much “downstream” to speak of.

    (Also, agriculture doesn’t appear to be much of a thing in the immediate vicinity of the canal anyway. The surroundings are basically either all protected forest or urban area. I guess farming wasn’t allowed when the Canal Zone was US-controlled, and the Panamanians just sort of kept that policy afterwards.)