Panama Day 2: Getting to work

Today was our first real day of "work" here in Panama.

And it was a long one.

After a 7 a.m. wake up call, my classmates and I, along with our professor and trusty guide Luis, made our way to the offices of the IDDAN, the agency responsible for water distribution in and around Panama City. This trip - to meet with IDDAN officials to discuss problems with water distribution in certain parts of the country - was somewhat unplanned and it showed in the outcome as no one was available to meet with us. However, the stop wasn't entirely useless as we did set up an interview for tomorrow afternoon.

From the offices of the IDDAN, we made our way to the Panama Canal Authority headquarters where my partner Natalia and I had a 10:30 a.m. interview scheduled with ACP environment department head Oscar Vallarino.

*This would probably be a good time to tell you about the two stories that Natalia and I are investigating...

*The first deals with the widening of the Panama Canal (a project that is already underway and is expected to be completed by 2014) and what, if any, affect it might have on the quality of drinking water throughout the region. Basically, fresh water and salt water mix each time a boat is raised in the locks of the Canal and if too salinization occurs (salt water moving into the fresh water bodies of the Gatun and Miraflores Lakes), it can make drinking water untreatable (without the construction of a new water treatment facility). Some (the ACP specifically) say that the level of salinization that occurs now and will occur once the new lock in up and running is not nearly enough to affect the quality and subsequent availability of drinking water. But, others (such as local biologists and hydrologists) believe the new lock will cause serious salinization issues.

*The second story is about a community located about 30 minutes (by car) from the heart of Panama City that does not receive any potable water. The residents' only means of obtaining water is from the small streams in the surrounding jungles (this water is obviously not treated for safe consumption). The people of the village say that their requests have been ignored by IDDAN, the agency responsible for distributing water in the area.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, our interview with Vallarino went very well. He gave us just what I expected - the ACP's side of the story which is that the canal's new lock will not affect the quality of drinking water and that the level of salinization that might occur is not nearly enough to cause a problem. Vallarino also showed us a detailed presentation explaining the widening project, which was very helpful to my understanding of the project. He also talked extensively about the huge economic benefits that the widening is expected to bring to Panama (again, the ACP's side of the story).

After leaving the ACP, we grabbed a quick lunch and then went on a private tour of the Miraflores Filtration Plant, which was arranged for us by Vallarino. The tour allowed us to see just how the water from the Miraflores Lake is collected and treated and then transferred on to the pipes and aqueducts of the IDDAN for distribution throughout the region.

Before making our way back to the hotel, we made one last stop at the University of Panama where Alcione and Ligia conducted an interview with a professor for their stories. While this stop wasn't necessary for my stories, it was a good chance to see another part of Panama City and to get to see a college campus in Central America.

We finally made it back to our hotel about 45 minutes ago, just in time for me to get cleaned up and ready to watch the Hurricanes football team take on Virginia Tech in a 7:30 p.m. game with major Atlantic Coast Conference implications! So, now I'm going to sit back, relax (yeah right, not with the importance of this rivalry game) and hopefully watch my 'Canes take down the Hokies!

Vayamos Canes!