Water availability key to new Panama Canal expansion

The construction of a fourth set of locks for the Panama Canal (in photo) will mainly depend on available water supply, according to Jorge Luis Quijano, administrator of canal authority ACP.

"Without water, we can forget about a fourth set of locks. Demand will be there," Quijano told news agency EFE.

Large quantities of water are needed for the operation of the canal's locks. In the third set of locks that were built as part of the expansion, as much as 55mn gallons of freshwater are needed for each transit, of which 22mn eventually end up in the sea. The Panamax locks lose up to 26mn gallons of water per transit.

The canal watershed is the most important one in the country and also supplies potable water to Panama City and second city Colón.

A total 13,548 vessels transited through the canal during the fiscal year 2017 ending September.

Increasing competition from the Suez Canal and ports in the region has led ACP to devise new infrastructure plans, including a new set of locks. In 2016, Quijano said that the ACP would form a team to explore the option.

At a presentation in September, the authority said that construction of a fourth set of locks could begin between 2025 and 2030, based on demand predictions.