Ricaurte Vásquez Morales is a man obsessed with water. An app on his phone displays the fluctuating level of Lake Gatún, the artificial reservoir that is the centerpiece of the Panama Canal system. He checks it constantly, the way a gambling addict monitors football scores. He keeps a vigilant eye on the weather.
“I love a rainy day,” he said.
Mr. Vásquez Morales is the administrator of the Panama Canal, which is both the economic heart of his isthmus nation and a central artery for global trade. More than half the container cargo moving between Asia and the East Coast of the United States passes through the shortcut notched into the Central American jungle — the connector between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Last year, a drought dropped the lake to critical levels, prompting canal authorities to limit traffic. At the worst point, in December, only 22 ships a day were allowed to pass through the canal, down from the usual 36 to 38. More than 160 ships were stuck at anchor at both ends.
Rains that began in May have allowed the lifting of most restrictions, and 35 ships a day on average have made the journey in recent weeks. But canal authorities know that this is merely a respite in a new era influenced by climate change and frequent periods of El Niño, when ocean temperatures rise and rainfall decreases. They are consumed with expanding water storage.