PANAMA CITY (AP) – The Panama Canal Authority tendered for a $2 billion water project package to combat a drought affecting freshwater lakes that feed the canal locks.
The projects will seek water recently supplied through the synthetic lakes of Gatun and Alajuela.
The ideas advised in the afterlife come with the construction of dams, the transfer of water from other lakes to Gatun or the construction of desalination plants.
This year, the canal began charging a freshwater surcharge from ships that transit the waterway between cities to cope with low rainfall after the surrounding watershed recorded its fifth driest year in seven decades in 2019. .
The new payments took effect on February 15 and have no expiration date, applies to all vessels of more than 125 payments in duration and consists of a constant payment of $10,000 consisting of pass plus variable rate that will have water grades in Lake Gatun. at the time of the crossing.
The Canal Authority said 2019 was one of the weakest rainy years in the basin in many decades, about 20% below the old average.
The basin, a formula of rivers and streams that feed the lakes, is for the progression of the canal and also supplies new water to Panama City, home to approximately part of the country’s four million inhabitants.