Impact of widening Panama canal

Matthew Parker

Fears surface of species migration and water shortages.

BUILDING THE Panama Canal, completed in 1914, was described at the time as the "greatest liberty ever taken with nature." Now, work is under way on a massive expansion of the canal, with giant new locks being built at either end of the waterway, as well as huge new channels and a widening of the canal where it cuts through the mountainous Continental Divide. Construction, scheduled to last seven years, is estimated to cost $5.2 billion.
But the fact that work has started without a comprehensive environmental impact study being carried out has worried Panamanians. They fear that although their country is among the wettest on the planet, the canal could mean that one day soon they will turn on their taps and out will come dirty, salty water — or even none at all.
At the same time, environmental groups such as Greenpeace have warned of the project's "potentially catastrophic consequences" for the world's oceans.
The original canal, completed after more than 20 years' struggle, did not so much impact on the environment as change it forever. Mountains were moved, the land bridge between the north and south American continents was severed, and more than 400 sq km of jungle was submerged under a new man-made lake. To defeat deadly mosquitoes, hundreds of sq km of what we would now call "vital wetlands" were drained and filled, and vast areas poisoned or smothered in thousands of gallons of crude oil.
Stanley Heckadon, a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, has been at the forefront of conservation in Panama for more than 20 years. Those efforts have focussed on preserving the jungles that make up the watershed for the rivers that supply the canal — some of the most species-rich forests in the world. Flora and fauna historically endemic to South and North America have mixed and evolved in Panama, resulting in tremendous biodiversity. The country has identified more than 900 species of birds, 1,500 species of trees, and 10,000 species of plants.
But deforestation threatens more than the tourist dollar or endangered species. Each time a ship passes through the canal, 236 million litres of fresh water — enough for a day's supply for a small city — is discharged from the locks into the ocean. This water comes from the canal's watershed, and if that is denuded of trees, it comes laden with silt and in unpredictable surges. The silt raises the bottom of the man-made lakes designed as storage for the canal, critically reducing their capacity.

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007.