Panama Needs Water

At first glance, Panama is a rain-soaked jungle right next to the two largest oceans in the world. After looking deeper, though, you will discover a drought-ridden land with unclean water sources. For nearly two years, rivers have been at lower levels than usual. The effect of this is that over 5% of the population does not have access to clean water. This may seem like a small amount, but imagine of 5% of US citizens (that’s almost 16 million people!) without clean water; that’s devastating. Another effect of the drought (and the water crisis in general) is that over 25% of the population have unimproved sanitation facilities!!! Imagine 80 million Americans without proper toilets!

    Panama does indeed flood regularly, and is surrounded by rainforest, but the water is often dirty and completely unusable. Some cities have gone weeks without any new water added to their reservoirs. One city was even refused water from an empty water truck because of the shortages. Each morning, citizens find a faucet with very little water pressure. Within minutes, there is none at all and people have to wait hours for more. The water crisis may not be a widely known thing outside of Panama, but it is definitely not nonexistent.