Drought hits major shipping lane: Panama Canal

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

#Panama, December 29, 2023 – El Nino didn’t slow down the hurricane season, but it did lessen rain in Panama, so much so that the Panama Canal is now having to reduce the number of vessels allowed to pass through it, increasing the possibility of grain shortages globally.

“To alleviate this freshwater scarcity, it would require an extreme storm, such as La Purisima in 2010, or a hurricane similar to Otto in 2016.  However, such events are unpredictable and undesirable from other standpoints,” the Panama Canal team said, describing the extent of the drought.

The driest October on record, according to the team, has resulted in 41% less rainfall than usual, lowering Gatun Lake, which serves the canal, to unprecedented levels for this time of year.  Reuters reports that now, US supplies are taking longer routes to avoid the backlog. It is being described by analysts as ‘unprecedented.’

Since October, every update from the press team has been about the desperate lack of water.  The canal is fed by the Gatun Reservoir but because it’s not raining enough, the canal is outstripping the water flowing into the reservoir quickly.

So far, water from last year’s rainy season has been used to make up the difference. But with no rainy season to speak of this year, the Canal operators are worried about what will happen come 2024.

“With less than two months left until the end of the rainy season, the Canal and the country face the challenge of the upcoming dry season with a minimum water reserve that must guarantee supply for more than 50% of the population and, at the same time, maintain the operations of the interoceanic waterway” the canal staff explained on October 31.

Following this, on November 1, the average transits through the Canal were cut to 31 vessels per day, and going forward, reservations for passage will continue to drop until February 2024 when only 18 slots will be open per day for passage.

“These measures are in addition to those previously adopted to preserve freshwater resources and to ensure the safety of transit operations,” a press release explained.

The Board of Directors has since approached the government with requests to build another reservoir and says it is focused on finding long-term solutions.