ENERGY CRISIS: Fortuna water levels increase

AFTER falling to record lows the Fortuna reservoir showed a slight increase of more than half a meter on Saturday and reached a level of 1003.10 meters above the sea level.

On Wednesday at noon the level was 1001.40 meters above sea level
Despite the increase Hydropower remains critical, because the levels of operation are a thousand meters above sea level. And current rainfall is on the lowlands.
The directors of the company that manages Fortuna said they maintain a contingency plan, which is to stop operating the plant from midnight to seven AM to allow the artificial lake to improve reservoir levels.
The fall in levels has caused a general alert across the country, after the onset of the energy crisis.
The rains though have felt in much of the lowlands of Chiriqui have been very sporadic in mountainous areas and in mountain ranges where the major hydroelectric plants operate in the country, such as those in Changuinola, Bocas del Toro, and Fortuna , in Chiriqui.