The Panama Canal is running out of water

[MULTIZ321]

The Panama Canal is running out of water

Opinion: The Panama Canal is running out of water

More than 70% of the cargo from the Panama Canal is headed for the U.S. Water shortages in the canal will mean more expensive imports.

ctmirror.org

Richard

 

[pedro47]

I saw this on the television. Fresh water is the key to moving ships thru The Panama Canal. This is another example of climate change world wide. IMHO

 

[Passepartout]

Between climate change and the fairly recent more-than-doubling the size of the canal(s), what'd'ya expect??? Water is a finite resource. Earth still has the same amount of water as it did in the time of dinosaurs.

Jim

 

[chapjim]

I've been through the PanCanal several times, all before it was turned over to Panama.

The old Panama Canal Company used to maintain the rain forest to keep water levels in the lakes whence comes the water needed to fill the locks. @Passepartout nailed it -- reduced rainfall (for whatever reason) and increased usage are taking their toll on canal operations.

 

[pedro47]

Between climate change and the fairly recent more-than-doubling the size of the canal(s), what'd'ya expect??? Water is a finite resource. Earth still has the same amount of water as it did in the time of dinosaurs.

Jim

When they increased the size of the Panama Canal did they factor in climate changes and the increased size of container ships and their tonnage going thru the new Canal?

 

[Passepartout]

When they increased the size of the Panama Canal did they factor in climate changes and the increased size of container ships and their tonnage going thru the new Canal?

Who knows what they factored in?? Other than penciling out if investors would enable the new canal to be built, It's anybody's guess. The reality is, climate change was not an unknown when they built it, and the primary driver was to make the new canal big enough for a new, larger generation of container ships.

Here's a comparison of allowed ship sizes in the old (original) canal locks and the new ones:

The size of ships that could transit the canal, called Panamax, was constrained by the size of the locks, which are 110 ft (33.53 m) wide and 1,050 ft (320.04 m) long, and 41.2 ft (12.56 m) deep. The third set of locks allow transit of larger, Post-Panamax ships, which have a greater cargo capacity than the current locks can handle. The new lock chambers are 180 ft (54.86 m) wide, 1,400 ft (426.72 m) long, and 60 ft (18.29 m) deep. These dimensions allow for an estimated 79% of all cargo-carrying vessels to transit the canal, up from 45%.

Jim

 

[emeryjre]

If it rained, the expansion was a great idea
If it didn't rain the expansion was not a great idea
Climate models are just models based on probability
The Climate went past the 2 Standard Deviation into the dry side
It happens

 

[Talent312]

Glad we got thru it last year when still navigable... nice cruise.

 

[pedro47]

Simple deduction the Panama Canal needs fresh water from a heavy rainy season to operate .

 

[tnecniv]

DOES. CHINA OWN THE PAMANA CANAL

 

[billymach4]

Build a nuclear power plant to power huge pumps to resupply the lake reservoirs.

Problem solved.

 

[Passepartout]

DOES. CHINA OWN THE PAMANA CANAL

Nope. It was turned over to Panama December 31, 1999. It's owned by Panama.

 

[PigsDad]

Build a nuclear power plant to power huge pumps to resupply the lake reservoirs.

Problem solved.

And pump the water from where? Can't pump it from the ocean because it is a fresh water lake.

Kurt

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I don't know much, if anything, about the physics of the Panama Canal.

So, I'm wondering why there is a need for freshwater? Is the Canal above the height of the oceans on each side? If so, then I understand. If not, then none of this make sense except that people don't want salt water to go inland.

Can someone explain this?

 

[artringwald]

I don't know much, if anything, about the physics of the Panama Canal.

So, I'm wondering why there is a need for freshwater? Is the Canal above the height of the oceans on each side? If so, then I understand. If not, then none of this make sense except that people don't want salt water to go inland.

Can someone explain this?

Here's a cross section of the canal. Ships are raised by draining water from an upper level into the lock. Ships are lowered by draining the water from the lock into a lower level.

Here's a map. Gatun Lake and Lake Alajuela are artificial lakes created as reservoirs to supply water for the locks.

It would be a huge environmental disaster to fill the upper levels with salt water. We took a cruise through the canal. One of the excursions was a boat trip on Gatun Lake. The boats pulled into the jungle so we could see the monkeys.

This was exiting the canal.

 

[billymach4]

And pump the water from where? Can't pump it from the ocean because it is a fresh water lake.

Kurt

If the water needs to be treated then use the additional power from the nuclear station to assist in the process.

 

[Passepartout]

If the water needs to be treated then use the additional power from the nuclear station to assist in the process.

You can't desalinate the billions of gallons of water it takes to raise and lower the ships that transit the canal.

 

[artringwald]

If the water needs to be treated then use the additional power from the nuclear station to assist in the process.

If you want to be more practical, but still not economically feasible, when draining the bottom lock, pump the fresh water back up to the top lock. Then you won't be draining the artificial lake every time a boat goes through.

 

[billymach4]

While I realize that this proposal complicated and does have some drawbacks. It could serve as a backstop. Not all of the water can be supplied by a nuclear power water resupply solution. It could very possibly supplement the shortfall in seasons of low rainfall.

 

[billymach4]

While I realize that this proposal complicated and does have some drawbacks. It could serve as a backstop. Not all of the water can be supplied by a nuclear power water resupply solution. It could very possibly supplement the shortfall in seasons of low rainfall.

Go ahead and laugh at how California supplies fresh water.https://water.ca.gov/About

Panama can build the infrastructure..... Or the good old USA can impose imperialism again and build it.!

 

[billymach4]

Who built the Panama Canal? | Britannica

Who built the Panama Canal? A French company headed by Ferdinand, viscount de Lesseps, started to build a canal in 1881 but failed by 1889. The United

www.britannica.com

 

[billymach4]

Duplicate

 

[sponger76]

Who built the Panama Canal? | Britannica

Who built the Panama Canal? A French company headed by Ferdinand, viscount de Lesseps, started to build a canal in 1881 but failed by 1889. The United

www.britannica.com

Don't think it really matters that the US built it. We no longer own or control it, and we can't just unilaterally take control now. Those days are long gone.

 

[billymach4]

Yup.

Don't think it really matters that the US built it. We no longer own or control it, and we can't just unilaterally take control now. Those days are long gone.

Just using the images of the bad old days.

 

[chapjim]

Go ahead and laugh at how California supplies fresh water.https://water.ca.gov/About

Panama can build the infrastructure..... Or the good old USA can impose imperialism again and build it.!

Impose imperialism = invade a sovereignty.

Heck of an idea! What could go wrong?