Insufficient rainfall has once again forced the Panama Canal to reduce the draft of ships passing through. Alhajuela and Gatún, the two artificial lakes in the Caribbean province of Colón that supply water to the canal, have both been affected by the drought. This situation led the ACP (Panama Canal Authority) to limit the depth of the largest vessels that transit through the canal for the fifth time.
The transit of vessels requires about 200 million liters of freshwater to be dumped into the sea, making Alhajuela and Gatún lakes vital for the canal’s operation. However, according to the ACP, from March 21 to April 21 of this year, water levels in Alhajuela dropped from 69 to 62 meters, while in Gatún, they went down from 25.6 to 25.2 meters.
Source: datamarnews.com