Lowest rainfall in 103 years threatens Canal

THE HURRICANES  that devastated areas of the United States and islands in the Caribbean could affect the operation of the Panama Canal in the upcoming year.

Rains that have fallen in the Panama Canal basin during October have been the lowest in the last 103 years of the Canal’s operation.

This is not an El Niño phenomenon. The decrease of the rains in the Pacific sector is related to the hurricanes in the Caribbean, that sucked the precipitations towards other areas.

“The hurricanes caused a decrease in rainfall in the basin by creating suction to the Atlantic, “sais Carlos Vargas, executive vice president of the Environment, Water and Energy division of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP).

October and November are the two wettest months of the year and  “If it rains normally during the next 60 days you could collect enough water and fill the lakes, but if the drought continues, we would have to evaluate that next summer 2018 can be difficult in terms of water management,” he said.

The ACP  has adopted preventive measures to save water in the operations of the Canal and in the generation of energy.