Expansion of the Canal poses no ecological threat

The expansion program of the Panama Canal, which increased the capacity to meet the growth in demand, has not identified threats in the ecological field, after years of evaluation of different alternatives and the analysis of environmental viability.

This is so since the activities of construction and operation of the expanded Canal will resemble that which the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has executed for more than one hundred years, such as excavation, dredging and pouring of concrete; as well as the operation of the locks with three chambers.

According to the Division of Environment, Water and Energy of the ACP, however, there were important considerations which were incorporated into the environmental impact studies and the design of the new locks.

The considerations were secondary vegetation removal, the exploration of cultural resources and the ecological compensation along with the maintenance of fresh water from the Gatun Lake.

Specialists pointed out that in this case both design and mitigation measures corresponding to each of these considerations were established.

On the other hand, the ACP said that they have conducted a total of 20 studies on water and three environmental studies. But they also have the support of studies related to other institutions.

Use of reservoirs

The watershed basin of the Panama Canal (CHCP) provides services at both national and international levels, as stored water is the source of drinking water for the cities of Panama, La Chorrera and Colon, as well as other communities surrounding it, and also provides water for the operation of the Panama Canal.

Juan Antonio Ducruet, former director of the Institute of Aqueducts and Sewage Systems (Idaan) and a member of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (Apede), said that one of the important tasks, after the inaugurated extension acts, is the hydrological capacity based on what the projections from 2006 until 2016 may have changed.

He said that out of the Gatun Lake and Canal sources around 300 million gallons are removed per day, while out of the Canal the number is close to 2,000 million gallons per day, i.e., almost 9% of water is for municipal use and the rest, for the operation of the Canal.

In Panama almost 400 liters of water are consumed per inhabitants per day, as compared to the consumption of other Latin American countries, it turns out to be the highest, exceeded in more than twice as much the Latin American average.

More than half of the Panamanian population uses drinking water from the Lakes of the Canal.

The Division of Environment, Water and Energy of the ACP indicates that the basin is formed by an extensive network of rivers and streams that drain water into the reservoirs of Alhajuela, Gatún and Miraflores.

Between the rivers and streams that drain water into the system of reservoirs are the Chagres, Gatun, Pequeni, Boquerón, Trinidad, Ciri, Indio Este, Canoa Quebrada, Piedra, among others. This hydrological system extends over a territory of 3, 435 square kilometers.

As to the project of water supply from Rio Indio which is estimated in about $500 million, the Canal stressed that they are currently focused on the discussion of the national plan for water security (PNSH) to define where it should get, the issue of how it will arrive must be evaluated and studied subsequently.