~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗔 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗟: 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗜𝗧 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗣𝗦, 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗦

From the editor: I've been binge-reading the last few days about the Panama Canal, just to understand how the damn thing works, the advantages to cargo transport, etc.  Below is my Brownsville Observer/Cliff Notes style description:

The Panama Canal, the construction of which was bugun by France in 1881, called a "failure" in 1890, but then was completed by the United States between 1904-14.

Going through the Panama Canal, instead of around the tip of South America, saves cargo ships, tankers, cruise ships and private vessels at least 18 days travel time, not to mention fuel.  72% of the commercial ships come from a U.S. port along the east or west coast, so our country is the primary beneficiary of the canal. 

To make transportation possible between that 50 mile wide area of Panama, ships must rise from sea level on the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean side another 86 feet to match the level of the man-made Lake Gatun, then back to sea level to exit to the other ocean. 

Each of three locks elevates the ship approximately 26 feet, with water supplemented by the huge, man-made 164.1 square mile Lake Gatun, taking millions of cubic feet of fresh water out of the lake.  Then, once reaching the lake's water level, the ships descend the exact same elevation through three additional locks, back down to sea level on the opposite ocean.  Did I express that clearly enough?

The clever ingenuity of the canal, with its total of six locks, first ascending, then descending, is dependent on natural forces to work; with huge amounts of fresh water coming from Lake Gatun, the lake has to be replenished by Panama's typical heavy rainy season.  When that didn't happen during a 2023 drought, brought by an El Nino weather pattern, Lake Gatun's water level dropped precipitously and there was not enough fresh water to sustain the canal. and many ships were simply not able to pass through.

Lake Gutun's level dropped to the extent that much of the lake's extremities became just a sea of mud, with the center showing tree stumps rising above the lake's surface.  The very low lake level not only reduced the performance of the canal considerably, but Lake Gatun is the fresh water source for metropolitan Panama City, so that water supply was greatly diminished.

Fortunately, 2024 brought a return to Panama's normal heavy rains, Lake Gutun is back to normal levels and the canal is again functioning properly.