Villagers wary of plans to dam river to ensure water supply to Panama Canal

EL JOBO, Panama — A long wooden boat sailed through the chocolate waters of the Indio River with Ana María Antonio and a Panama Canal Authority colleague aboard on a mission to hear directly from villagers who could be affected by dam projects on the river.

The canal forms the backbone of Panama’s economy, and the proposed dam would guarantee the water needed for the uninterrupted operation of the canal in an era of increasingly erratic weather conditions.

It would also flood villages, where around 2,000 people are expected to be relocated and where the project faces opposition, and reduce the flow of the river to other communities downstream.

Those who live downstream know the megaproject will significantly change the river, but they hope it will bring jobs, clean water, electricity and roads to their isolated communities, not just leave them in the lurch. poverty.

“We, as the Panama Canal, understand that many of these areas have been abandoned in terms of basic services,” Antonio said.

The channel

The Panama Canal was completed in 1914 and generates about a quarter of the government’s budget.

Last year, the canal authority reduced the number of ships that could pass through daily by about 20% because rains had not filled the tanks used to operate the locks, which need about 50 million gallons of fresh water for each vessel. This led to shipping delays, and in some cases, companies sought alternatives. By the time restrictions were lifted this month, demand had plummeted.

To avoid a repeat of a drought exacerbated by climate change, the Indio River dam project has been revived.

It received a boost this summer with a ruling from Panama’s Supreme Court. For years, Panama has wanted to build another reservoir to supplement the main water supply of Lake Gatun – a large artificial lake and part of the canal route – but a 2006 regulation prohibits the canal from extending outside its traditional watershed. The Supreme Court’s decision allowed for a reinterpretation of the boundaries.

The Indio runs roughly parallel to the canal, across the isthmus. The new reservoir on the Indio would be located southwest of Lake Gatún and would supplement water from there and that coming from the much smaller Lake Alhajuela to the east. The Indio Reservoir would allow approximately 12 to 13 additional canal crossings each day.

The reservoirs also provide water to more than 2 million people – half the country’s population – living in the capital.

The river

Monkeys howled in the thick jungle bordering Indio on an August morning. The boat zigzagged around submerged logs beneath concrete and rough wooden houses on the banks. Residents passed by other boats, the region’s main means of transportation.

In the town of El Jobo, Antonio and his colleague carefully climbed the muddy slope from the river to a room belonging to the local Catholic parish, decorated with flowers and bunches of green bananas.

Inside, residents of El Jobo and Guayabalito, two communities that will not be flooded, took their places. The canal authority has held dozens of such awareness meetings across the watershed.

Canal officials hung posters with maps and photos showing the Indio watershed. They talked about the proposed project, the recent Supreme Court decision and a rough timeline.

Antonio said canal officials are talking with affected residents to determine their needs, especially if they come from the 37 small villages where residents are expected to be relocated.

Canal authorities said the Indio Canal was not the only solution being considered, but days earlier canal administrator Ricaurte Catín Vásquez said it would be the most effective option because it been studied for at least 40 years.

Jeronima Figueroa, 60, has lived along the Indio in El Jobo for almost as long. In addition to being the region’s essential transportation link, the Indio provides water for drinking, washing clothes and watering crops, she said.

“This river is our highway and our everything,” she said.

The dam’s effect on river flow was top of mind for the gathered residents, as well as why the reservoir is needed, what the water would be used for, which communities would need to relocate, how land titles would be managed, would the construction pollute. the river.

Puria Nuñez of El Jobo summed up the fears: “Our river will not be the same Indio River. »

Progress

Kenny Alexander Macero, a 21-year-old father who raises cattle in Guayabalito, said it was clear to him that the reservoir would bring a lot of money to the canal, but he wanted to see it spark real change for his family and d other people in the area. the region.

“I’m not against the project, it will generate a lot of work for people who need it, but we have to be sincere in saying that ‘we are going to bring projects to the communities that live in this region’.” he said. “We want highways. Don’t try to fool us.

A complication was that, although the canal authorities would be responsible for the reservoir project, the federal government would have to carry out the major development projects in the region. And the Feds weren’t in the room.

The project does not guarantee other benefits. Some communities along Gatún Lake do not have clean drinking water.

Gilberto Toro, a community development consultant not involved in the canal project, said the canal administration actually enjoys greater trust among the population than Panama’s federal government because it has not been involved in so many scandals.

“Everyone knows that canal projects come with a seal of guarantee,” Toro said. “A lot of people want to negotiate with the canal one way or another because they know what they’re going to offer isn’t going to be trinkets.”

Figueroa expressed the same confidence in canal administrators, but said residents should monitor them closely to avoid being overlooked. “We cannot continue to live far behind like this,” she said. “We have no electricity, no water, no health care, no education.”

Next steps

President José Raúl Mulino said a decision on the Indio River project would be made next year. The canal administration will ultimately decide, but the project would require coordination with the federal government. No public vote is necessary, but the canal administrator said he is seeking public consensus.

Opposition emerged, unsurprisingly, in the communities that would be flooded.

Among them is Limon, where canal representatives parked their cars and boarded a boat to El Jobo. This is where the reservoir dam would be built. The highway only got there two years ago and the community still has many needs.

For a year, Olegario Hernández has posted a sign in front of his house in Limon saying: “No to tanks”.

The 86-year-old farmer was born there and raised his six children there. Her children have all left the area in search of opportunity, but Hernández wants to stay.

“We don’t need to leave,” Hernández said, but the canal administration “wants to evict us.”