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The Panama Canal is an extraordinary feat of engineering. This waterway, which slices 50 miles across the isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is an artery of world trade and a key source of Panamanian pride. But it’s in trouble.
Historically, major dry events happened in Panama around once every 20 years, said Steve Paton, who heads the physical monitoring program for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. But the country has experienced three in less than three decades.
In 2023 and 2024, an El-Niño-fueled drought pushed Lake Gatún, which forms a major part of the canal, to critical lows. Canal authorities were forced to reduce the transits from a typical 36 a day to 24, disrupting global supply chains.
The canal authority has landed on a plan to dam the nearby Río Indio to create a new reservoir. The $1.6 billion project will take an estimated six years to complete. The project is controversial, however, as it means flooding communities, displacing around 2,300 people and submerging homes, farms, schools and healthcare clinics.
And now, the Panama Canal finds itself in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s expansionist agenda. “We were already in a situation of instability … then President Trump jumps onto the scene,” said Osvaldo Jordán, a political scientist based in Panama City.
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📸 : Federico Rios/The New York Times/Redux, Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images, Gabriel A. Alemán
