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[00:00.04]Officials have ordered restrictions

[00:03.28]on shipping traffic in the Panama Canal

[00:07.00]because of reduced water levels.

[00:10.44]The latest restrictions limit ship crossings

[00:14.96]through the canal by 36 percent.

[00:18.48]The Panama Canal is one of the world's

[00:21.72]busiest waterways,

[00:23.92]linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

[00:27.76]Canal officials have estimated reduced water levels

[00:33.04]could cost them between $500 million

[00:37.12]and $700 million in 2024, The Associated Press reports.

[00:44.64]The losses are linked to tolls shipping companies

[00:49.72]must pay to pass through the Panama Canal.

[00:53.92]The Central American nation is experiencing drought,

[00:59.32]or extremely dry weather.

[01:01.92]The climate condition can slow traffic

[01:05.16]and reduce safety in the 80-kilometer canal.

[01:09.80]Panama Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez said

[01:15.36]the new restrictions reduce daily ship crossings to 24.

[01:21.28]The latest cut followed additional reductions last year.

[01:26.56]There were 38 crossings a day in normal times last year.

[01:32.76]Vásquez told the AP,

[01:35.40]"It's vital that the country sends a message

[01:39.24]that we're going to take this on

[01:41.56]and find a solution to this water problem."

[01:45.36]He added that in the first quarter of the fiscal year,

[01:50.12]the waterway saw a 20 percent reduction in goods

[01:54.72]and 791 fewer ships

[01:58.72]than during the same period the year before.

[02:02.60]Vásquez said the reductions

[02:05.80]were part of necessary control measures

[02:09.20]to make sure water levels remain high enough

[02:13.16]to permit at least 24 ships to pass daily.

[02:18.20]Officials are hoping the situation

[02:21.16]will improve in April,

[02:23.52]when the new rainy season starts.

[02:26.88]Weather experts blame the drought

[02:30.08]on climate change and the weather system

[02:33.52]called El Nino.

[02:35.64]El Nino is a warming of surface temperatures

[02:40.08]in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.

[02:43.88]This event usually causes hot,

[02:47.28]dry weather in Asia and Australia

[02:50.72]and can drive weather changes

[02:53.16]in other parts of the world.

[02:55.76]Vásquez warned that Panama must

[02:58.84]seek new water sources

[03:01.28]for both the canal's operations

[03:04.24]and drinking water.

[03:06.28]The same lakes that fill the canal also produce water

[03:11.04]for more than half of the country's 4 million people.

[03:15.36]"The water problem is a national problem,

[03:19.12]not just of the canal," Vásquez said.

[03:23.60]"We have to address this issue across the entire country."

[03:28.32]However, Vásquez told Reuters news agency

[03:32.96]he expects the waterway to meet its latest earnings targets,

[03:37.96]in part because of recent increases in tolls.

[03:42.80]I'm Bryan Lynn.

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Words in This Story

toll – n. money paid to authorities in exchange for using a road, bridge, waterway, etc.

vital – adj. completely necessary

fiscal year – n. a 12-month period used by businesses and governments for accounting and budgeting purposes

address – v. to deal with a situation or problem