Running Out of Water

The canal's biggest modern threat is not an engineering failure — it is drought. Every ship that passes through drains tens of millions of liters of fresh water from Gatun Lake out to sea, and none of it comes back. Climate change has reduced rainfall in the Canal Zone, forcing authorities to impose draft restrictions.

In 2023, severe drought cut transits from 36 to just 22 ships per day, creating a global shipping bottleneck. The canal that reshaped world trade is now threatened by the one resource its builders never worried about: rain.