Construction of the Río Indio Reservoir will require the Incorporation of Biological Corridors
Pictured below is the Boca de Uracillo community, Coclé province, in the Indio River basin, soon to be flooded and become part of the Panama Canal.
The project is progressing in updating the environmental baseline for the impact study that will begin in May and will be presented at the end of 2026. With the parameters for the resettlement of some 500 families now defined, the Río Indio project moves on to the environmental impact study phase. Ms. Lisbeth Karina Vergara, the project’s socio-environmental manager, explained to reporters that monitoring is currently underway in the upper, middle, and lower basins, focusing on water and air quality, as well as the behavior of existing species in the area. “We are updating the baseline… monitoring water and air quality, and conducting hydro-biological monitoring of species,” she stated.
Ms. Lisbeth Karina Vergara pictured above, studied forestry engineering at Honduras National University and holds a master’s degree in environmental management from the Santa Maria La Antigua University in Panama. After earning her diploma, she worked for 22 years in different organizations including the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) where she has been for the last 15 years implementing projects for the environmental management of the Panama Canal Watershed and the Canal Expansion construction. Prior to attending the Humphrey program, she was coordinating the environmental and social aspects for the design of a new reservoir to provide water for the population and the Canal operations. The land in question for the Río Indio project is pictured below.
Ms. Vergara has practical and theoretical knowledge about participation processes with different stakeholders at the local and country level. During the last two years she has been participating in the National Water Council sessions as part of the PCA management team. She also has knowledge of the international environmental and social standards applied in development and construction projects. As a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at UC Davis, Ms. Vergara is interested in water resource management, governance, and public policy in topics related to hydrologic resources. In her fellowship year, she aims to complement her social and environmental background by increasing her knowledge of public policy issues, inclusive governance strategies, conflict management and climate change.
