That water crisis affecting Panama is getting worse. In spite of that, studies from the national waterways company (Idaan) show that the country has the highest per capita consumption in the whole of Latin America.
Accordinfg Idaan’s statistics, daily consumption in Panama is a staggeting 500 litres per head. “That in reality understates actual consumption, if you consider all those dwellings that have no water meter” says Abilio Pitti, Idaan national operation director. “Water is cheap and we could not care less. We often complain of water leaks but the visible wastage, like broken pipes in the street, is a fraction of the actual total leakeage” he added. Remarking that hardly anyone seems to be aware of water saving measures needed in a drought, Mr Pitti went on to say that “consumption is actually up! I am not sure if it is due to the extreme heat, but we certainly badly need an awareness campaign to teach people how to use water propertly and not wastefully”.
Crisis
Mr Pitti is certainly a worried man. He blames environmental damages as a primary cause of reduced rainfall, leading to lower water levels in rivers and lakes. Noting that this trend has been in play for years, if not decades, he goes on to highlight that “within the trend, there are years in which we record extreme conditions, due to exceptional climate events. We can only hope that the frequency of these extreme conditions does not increase further. I fear that we have been remiss in realizing the real impact of our actions, or inaction, on climate change, and that we have turned a blind eye to how things have been getting increasingly worse. I pray to God the current situation is just a blip that won’t reoccur in a short period of time”, he frets. He is not convinced that international measures against climate change will be effective as long as entrenched economic interests overrule the preservation of the environment for future generations.
In that context, all necessary measures are being adopted to ensure that the local population is sheltered from the harshest effects of climate change. Even so, Mr Pitti explained that “the situation has gradually been getting worse: the Chame water treatment plant, for instance, used to work 24/7, and now it’s only operational for 6 hours a day. As a result, water has to be supplied via water wagons, 14 new waterholes had to be drilled and water had to be channeled where most needed”.
According to Giovani Fletcher, President of the Panamanian Institute for Consumers and Users (Ipadecu), what the government authorities should have done is implement a water rationing policy in an effort to improve its proper use. Rationing is not new to the region: in 2013, the government had to implement energy rationing due to the low levels of the main reservoirs in the country. Two years on, the same problems have come back to haunt Panama. This time, however, it is the agricultural sector that has suffered the worst effects of the El Niño phenomenon, along with the population at large.
Remedial measures
The national plan to drill 150 new water holes has, to date, only seen 60% progress, according to Mr Pitti. 36 new waterholes have been drilled in Los Santos and Herrera, which has helped attenuate the worse effects of the current drought for the local population. Concerning the water levels in the important Alajuela and Gatun lakes, which are key for the operations of the Panama Canal, Mr. Pitti pointed out that their maintenance falls under the jurisdiction of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). The ACP is in charge of ensuring that the levels do not drop below the minimum required for the proper functioning of the water treatment plants at Chilobre, Las Mendozas, Miraflores and Laguna Alta.
