Conservation Efforts, Sustainability, and Conflicts

Conservation Efforts: Water conservation in Panama was a little difficult to find data on. As far as I can tell Panamanians depend on an abundance of water from rain because of the country’s locations in the tropics.

I can imagine that if Panama is used to getting a large amount of water from rain it could be potently devastating if there were a drought or any significant drop in rainfall.  In Panama there is a wet and a dry season.  During the wet season Panamanians depend on the rains to replenish their lakes and rivers.  When there is a drought or the dry season lasts longer than expected, which Panama is dealing with right now, the Panamanian government rations both water and electricity.  I found an article from “Newsroom Panama”  (http://www.newsroompanama.com/panama/5683-water-rationing-not-on-the-cards-yet.html)  that talks about recent shortages in rain and how the country would deal with the problem.  The article stated that the lakes and rivers that supplied that water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants were not at a low enough level to require the rationing of water.  In the same article the rationing of electric power was also discussed.  This is because most of the electric power in the country is supplied by hydroelectric power.  The way that the government enforces this rationing of electric power is by fining companies that use illuminated signs.  Another article I found in “Bloomber Businessweek”  (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-05-09/panama-canal-cuts-water-use-as-drought-prompts-energy-rationing) makes similar claims about water and power rationing.  Except that it focused more on the Panama Canal and how it had preemptively rationed its water and power use.  The article also explained that the Panamanian government had suspended classes in schools and universities for a week and asked the public sector to turn off their air-conditioning.

Sustainability: This system only seems sustainable if the yearly wet and dry season cycles remain stable.  In Panama the conservation of water is not a preventative measure, but a way to deal with a lack of rainfall when it happens.  Panama depends on water not only for drinking and sanitation but also for the majority of their power.  The Panama Canal is also a massive part of their economy that uses a large amount of water and power.  With climate change widely accepted as a reality, depending on a stable climate for all of these parts of their society does not seem very sustainable at all.  An ace in the hole that Panama does have is aquifers, with over 125 sources of natural spring water Panama could hypothetically survive on the water provided by the aquifers. (http://www.panamaqmagazine.com/Feb%2010%20Q%20Takes/bottle_water.html)  This could be a temporary solution as long as the rains do return, so the aquifers could be replenished.  Unfortunately pumping these aquifers and bottling the water has become a lucrative industry in Panama, and as we have seen in the documentaries in class, if this is done irresponsibly it could be potentially devastating.  If the rain cycles do stay the same, and income from the canal and truism stay stable then a water treatment system like we have in the industrialized world seems sustainable.  These technologies seem legitimate if the government can afford them.

Conflicts:  As far as I can tell from my research there are no real conflicts in Panama over water.  For the time being there is enough water to satisfy domestic, industrial and commercial needs.  There is a slight drought going on now, it’s actually more like an extended dry season.  There is inconvenience and slight loss in revenue from the water and electricity rationing but nothing that would destabilize the country or cause a civil war.  As far as other countries are concerned, the countries that Panama shares a border with are not a threat, especially over water.  There is one major conflict that Panama was engaged in over water, and that was the 1989 US invasion of Panama.  I say that it was over water because the ousting of then president Manuel Noriega was, among other stated goals, to ensure the neutrality of the Panama Canal.

Concluding Thoughts:  I think that water will play a major role in the future of our society.  I think that it is very hard to tell what that role will be.  I’m skeptical about the extreme views about future wars being fought over water, especially in developed nations.  I have hope that we can come up with peaceful ways to distribute water. I think that we could potentially be facing a major crisis but I do have faith that there is a solution, we just need to come up with it.  I don’t necessarily think that water technologies will “cure” the problem, but that they will be part of the “cure”.  When you look at how desalinization and purification technology has changed it’s not preposterous to think that these technologies could have a major impact on potential water crisis’ in the future.  I also think that the fact that there are classes like this one that spread awareness about current problems with water, it will help our society deal with problems down the road.

Water Use:

Industry: Finding data that breaks down how much of Panama’s total water supply is used for different industries is a lot harder than I thought it would be.   The CIA fact book states that construction, brewing, sugar milling, concrete and other construction material manufacture are Panama’s main industries outside of the Panama Canal and Tourism.  I’ve found it a bit hard to find any information about Panama’s water issues that aren’t connected to either the Panama Canal or truism.  That is an indication of how important both tourism and the Panama Canal are to Panama’s economy.  According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ aquastat fact page there is no current data about the amount of water extracted for different sectors.  The most recent data comes from 1990 and only explains that 23% of water resources were used for domestic and industrial uses and 77% used for agriculture.  As shown in this chart:

 

Compare this with the United States:

In the United States only 6% is used by domestic and industrial while 37% is used by irrigation, but the chart from the U.S. has much more data from more sources.

One possible explanation for the lack of data could be that because of Panama’s tropical climate water scarcity is not a major concern and data collection might be costly and  Panama not a very wealthy country.   With there not being very much data on how the overall extracted water gets distributed to each sector in Panama I was unable to find any data breaking it down for each industry.

Arguably, the two major industries in Panama: canal operations and the tourist industry do not use that much water.  Even though the Panama Canal is made up of a massive amount of water it does not drain any watershed and is replenished by rainwater.

According to the same UN fact sheet, Panama’s main source of pollution is untreated sewage water being released back in to rivers and the ocean.

 

Municipal and Agricultural use:

As a disclaimer the majority of the data that I found about Panama’s agricultural water use has been translated from spanish using google translate.

The most amount of information about how water is distributed through out Panama came from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations among other things it states that the waters in Panama are recognized as public property of the state.  Most of the data form this source is a little dated, but was one of the only resources that I could find that provided useful information.  It didn’t provide any information on how water is distributed to people from treatment plants.  Most of the data from this source i from 1997 and 1998 and it explains that during that time a lot of the organizations in charge of water distribution were going through the process of privatization.

Also claims that despite how abundant water is and the relatively low demand for it Panama still has issues related to pollution and contamination.

I am assuming that because of it’s tropical climate Panama does not need much in the way of irrigation, which is the reason finding data on irrigating was a bit challenging.  In my opinion, growing crops in a tropical region, with it’s fertile soil and abundant rain is probably the most efficient way to grow crops.

 

 

Energy and Mining:

According to the CIA world fact book Panama produced 6.546 billion kilo watt hours (kWh) in 2010 and consumed 5.805 kWh that same year.  Producing energy from fossil fuels and hydroelectric power plants are Panama’s main sources of energy.  Fossil fuels account for 51.6% of Panama’s electric energy production and 48.4% came from hydroelectric plants according to estimates from 2009.  It isn’t surprising that almost half of the electricity produced in Panama is hydroelectric, considering how small Panama is and it’s abundance of lakes and rivers.  I couldn’t find anything on current tidal power stations in Panama but (energypulse.net) did surmise that Lago de Chirqui and Bahia de San Miguel could both be potential sites for tidal energy.

According to infomine.com two of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world are located in Panama.  On average Panama produces an estimated 255,000 tons of copper, 90,000 ounces of gold, 1.5 million ounces of silver and 3 million tons of molybdenum. (http://www.businesspanama.com/investing/opportunities/mining.php)

Open pit copper and gold mines are a threat to the rainforests of Panama.  Because of the abundance of water in Panama the use of water isn’t a major drain on watersheds but the runoff from the mines is a major source of pollution.  The shear amount of rainforest that is cleared for a open pit mine can have dramatic effects on the unique ecosystems of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and also affect the biodiversity of the region.

This picture shows an open pit mine in the Petaquilla region of the Panamanian rainforest.

 

As you can see, this mining process strips away the rain forests and effectively annihilates the delicate ecosystems and reduces biodiversity.  This particular mine is operated by a Canadian mining company. (http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/petaquilla-panamanian-rainforest-communities-threatened-mining)

This map just shows where in Panama this mine is:

As you can see in this picture there are grass roots movements to try and curtail foreign mining operations in Panama, but with a fraction of the resources available to the mining companies it can be hard for them to make any headway.

Water Issues: Availability, Cost, Hygiene and Sanitation

• Availability:  Panama actually has an abundance of water, with average annual precipitation of 2692 mm per year the atmosphere provides ample water.  As we have learned in class the doesn’t necessarily mean that all Panamanians have access to clean drinkable water.  The CIA’s website explains that 93% of Panama’s population has access to “improved” drinking water, meaning that the water has been treated and is safe for human consumption.  In urban areas 97% of the people have access to this improved water and in rural areas that number drops to 83%.  Inversely, 3% of the urban population uses unimproved water and so does 17% of the rural population.(CIA)  Because most Panamanians live in urban areas they receive  water through pipes and most get it directly to their houses or apartments.  The 3% of the urban population that does not receive running water most gather rain water in the wet season and collect water from local water sources like lakes or ponds in the dry season.

Hygiene and Sanitation:

According to the CIA’s information on Panama 69% of the population have access to” improved” sanitation meaning that they have access to sanitation facilities.  That breaks down to 75% of the urban population and 51% of the rural population having access to sanitation facilities.(CIA)  Major waterborne and vectorborne diseases are bacterial diarrhea, dengue fever and malaria. (CIA)