Panama Canal Authority is considering of constructing a new reservoir to be able to compensate for the amount of water that is extracted from the transit operation of the Canal.
Panama Canal held a press conference highlighting the relevance of the recent Supreme Court decision on the limits of the Panama Canal watershed.
Estimates of the execution time for the new reservoir is around six years, it was explained during the meeting.
Oscar Ramírez, board member of Panama Canal indicated that “the Indio River alone is not the solution, since other actions and projects are required to accompany the initiative, while taking into account that events such as climate change add anxiety to current projects.”
Panama Canal believes that this ruling allows to strengthen its commitment to responsible and sustainable management of its water resources.
It is also believed that the execution of water projects is necessary to ensure the reliability of the route, as the operation of the Canal would face a critical period in the next 10 years.
Last month, the Panama Canal said after recent rains boosted water levels, it would increase the total number of booking slots in both the neopanamax and panamax Locks to 35 slots.
According to the authority, the changes are based on “the positive effect of the rainy season” in the canal’s watershed and the present and projected level of the Gatun Lake.
Based on these factors, the Canal announces an additional booking slot in the neopanamax locks beginning on August 5.
Increased rainfall in recent months has allowed the canal to replenish its watershed, leading to an increase in transits that had been severely restricted last year amid a drought.
