The Panama Canal is faced with longer dry spells that make it harder to operate. But the plan to address this issue with a massive dam and reservoir comes with cons and well as pros.
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00:00For 110 years, the Panama Canal has been the shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic
00:07Oceans, carrying 2.5 percent of global seaborne trade and letting thousands of ships per year
00:13go where they're going much faster.
00:15But climate change is putting this engineering marvel, so crucial to global trade, under
00:20strain.
00:21The dry season is growing longer in this part of the world.
00:26Experts are making it harder to keep the canal running.
00:29And scientists predict the water shortage will only get worse, leaving the canal with
00:34a problem.
00:35The Panama Canal is a canal that works with fresh water, and that imposes a relative disadvantage
00:43in relation to all the other systems of maritime navigation in the world.
00:47The canal's administration has a plan, but it will be costly in more ways than one.
00:53Rural Tres Hermanas in western Panama is a world away from the bustling canal locks.
00:59But its fate, and that of the hamlets around it, may end up tightly linked to the canals.
01:04The two schools, the church, the clinic and all the farmland here may be underwater in
01:09six years' time, as plans to build a massive US$1.6 billion reservoir by around 2030 gain
01:16momentum.
01:181.25 billion cubic meters of fresh water would collect here, letting as many as 15 more vessels
01:24transit the canal per year.
01:27But the over 2,000 farmers living here, the exact number isn't yet worked out, will need
01:32to leave.
01:33But local residents say that while they aren't necessarily against this change, these conversations
01:53aren't happening.
02:03There's also debate about the environmental impact.
02:27Canal administrators say the reservoir will provide much-needed drinking water to Panama's
02:31thirsty and growing population.
02:35But environmentalists foresee damage to endemic species, and more bad ecological outcomes
02:40than good.
02:42The project isn't inevitable.
02:44It still needs to pass a public consultation, discussion in the cabinet, and an OK from
02:50the National Assembly.
02:52But local activists say if it does, one of the biggest changes it would bring would be
02:57the disappearance of a rural way of life.
03:15No matter the final decision, Panama may find it has to sacrifice something as climate pressures
03:21mount.
03:22The smooth running of a global trade artery that helps sustain the nation, or the natural
03:27diversity and rural rhythms that risk disappearing under the floodwaters.
03:31Patrick Chen and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.