Panama Canal applies water saving measures
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The Panama Canal Authority reported Wednesday February 6th that the Canal has already imposed a set of water saving measures as a precautionary measure.
The implemented prorgam of water conservation in the locks has been going on for several months in the face of the possibility that dry season will continue well into the month of May. As seen in previous years, a lengthy dry season can cause severe droughts, the effects of this were seen throughout Central America in 2016 .
The Panama Canal Authority explained that they have been working to combat the phenomenon of El Niño in November and continue to do so.
The program of conserving water includes "cross-flooding of locks", "intensive use of tubs" and the temporary closure of a hydroelectric plant in the channel channel "to prevent that water from leaving the system."
The lock systems at different levels require 202,000 cubic meters of water each time a ship passes.
Currently Panama is in the middle of the dry season, The presence of El Niño, a phenomenon characterized by abnormal warming of the Pacific Ocean, prolongs the dry season and minimizes rainfall, experts say. Panama has been affected by El Niño several times in recent years.
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