So why doesn’t Panama just pump the water used in the locks back into the lake so that it isn’t lost into the sea on every transit? It doesn’t seem that such a solution would be profoundly technically difficult and it could definitely be done with sustainable power in the tropics. Occam’s razor.

I know the new one has one that recovers something like 60 percent from the article in the bottom of this comment, but they didn’t retrofit the old one?

I’ve never seen anyone give a straight answer on this one, so I’m genuinely curious if this is entirely a natural disaster or foreseeable but not economically viable or what?

They also could use salt water for the downward leg to the sea as it won’t flow back to the lake, couldn’t they? I saw nothing about this anywhere. But it makes complete sense and would cut lake usage in half in both directions. I’m sure that a surcharge for such a system would be welcomed by ship owners at this point, because the economic impact is considerable. That wouldn’t have a negative environmental impact as you’d just be introducing brackish water to brackish or salt seas at the bottom.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/03/panama-canal-drought-hits-ne...