Share
PANAMA CITY — Panama marked the 20-year anniversary Tuesday of the turnover of the Panama Canal, now amid a water crisis that threatens the viability of the waterway.
While Panama has been successful at running — and expanding — the canal after the U.S. handed over control, it now must face a new challenge: to find a new source of water for the locks.
The anniversary of the Dec. 31, 1999, handover comes amid months of water-depth restrictions that limit what the cargo ships using the waterway can carry.
Changes in climate — and a recent expansion to allow bigger ships to pass — may have finally caught up with the canal’s 105-year-old design, in which the artificial Gatun Lake functions as part of the ship passage and also provides drinking water for about half the country.
“The rainfall over the canal watershed is just not enough to keep the expanded canal operating, much less any further expansion,” said analyst and hydroelectric dam expert José Isabel Blandón. “Panama has to start looking at this problem, because the lakes also provide drinking water for 2 million people.”
![Photo of the Panama Canal](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/16160938/panama-2.jpg)
All That Doesn’t Mean That Panamanians Aren’t Happy
It could affect the competitiveness of the canal, which for 85 years was run by the United States.
Ricaurte Vásquez, who heads the canal administration, said the coming dry season could prove a test.
“This poses a problem of operational sustainability,” Vásquez said. The Suez Canal, which is at sea level and doesn’t need locks, he said, “doesn’t have that problem, and it could become a much more attractive and reliable alternative.”
All that doesn’t mean that Panamanians aren’t happy about the handover, and their anniversary.
President Laurentino Cortizo hoisted a giant Panamanian flag outside the canal headquarters Tuesday.
The handover, Cortizo said, “demolished a barrier that divided the country,” a reference to the fact the canal runs through the middle of Panama. “What our people achieved was union.”
The canal has also earned Panama about $17 billion in fees and passage payments. The country spent about $5.6 billion on an expansion that was completed in 2016.
Since then, the canal has had to deal with the effects of trade tensions between the United States and China, which, along with Japan, are the biggest users of the canal.
[activecampaign form=29]
RELATED TOPICS:
Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins
12 hours ago
Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home
13 hours ago
Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk
1 day ago
How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles
1 day ago
Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike
1 day ago
49ers Rookie WR Ricky Pearsall Shot in Attempted Union Square Robbery
26 mins ago
Categories
![Police officers secure the area and investigate the scene of a shooting at Union Square in San Francisco, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/31184052/piersall-shooting-1024x683.jpg)
49ers Rookie WR Ricky Pearsall Shot in Attempted Union Square Robbery
![Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at an event in anticipation of signing a bill on his proposed oil profit penalty plan in Sacramento on March 28, 2023. (CalMatters/ Miguel Gutierrez Jr.)](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/31175839/newsom-big-oil.webp)
Will Gov. Newsom Call a Special Session to Deal With Gas Prices?
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/16183042/Eagles-vs-49ers.jpg)
Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins
![A black poodle's face with his tongue sticking out](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/29135336/Rescued-from-an-abandoned-home-after-weeks-of-fending-for-himself-Adam-a-shy-but-sweet-poodle-mix-is-now-seeking-a-loving-forever-home.-Mells-Mutts-1024x538.jpg)
Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/28091346/082824-Lede-1024x576.jpg)