Emergency plan to fight climate change on Panama tourist island

Climate change is directly impacting some sectors of Panama, such as Isla Colón, in Bocas del Toro, where the Big Creek lagoon that supplies raw water to the water treatment plant has dried up due to lack of rain.

It is a phenomenon that already occurred in 2019 and 2008 when the reservoir dried up due to lack of rainfall despite the fact that there was intense rain in the rest of the country.

This year the phenomenon has been repeated. The director of the Institute of National Aqueducts and Sewers (Idaan), Juan Antonio Ducreut Climate change is directly impacting some sectors of the country, such as Isla Colón, in Bocas del Toro, where the Big Creek lagoon that supplies raw water to the water treatment plant has dried up due to lack of rain.

It is a phenomenon that already occurred in 2019 and 2008 when the reservoir dried up due to a lack of rainfall despite the fact that there was intense rain in the rest of the country.

This year the phenomenon has been repeated. The director of the Institute of National Aqueducts and Sewers (Idaan), Juan Antonio Ducruet told La Prensa that since last August it has not rained in the area of ​​the lagoon that supplies water to the tourist island of Colon.

To face the need for drinking water for the 6,000 inhabitants of Isla Colón and another 6,000 tourists who arrive this season at the island, Idaan activated a contingency plan with the reactivation of underground wells and water supply through a barge.

Ducreut announced that $1,400 million are required for investments in water intakes, catchment infrastructure at the national level, multipurpose reservoirs (for central provinces), and raw water pumping stations with redundancies and adapted to the changing conditions.

He explained that it is necessary to improve the use and exploitation of groundwater, through deep wells as a source of supply.

Also needed, he added, is the comprehensive planning of water resources for the large metropolitan area, including the alternative use of Lake Bayano for the east of the city and a governance and management plan for water security in the Canal basin, regarding human consumption and the operation of the Canal.