To keep the Panama Canal flowing, the living and the dead must pay the price

Aris Mariota/AFP/Getty Images

When Maricel Sánchez’s family buried her grandmother 15 years ago, she never expected she would have to dig her back up one day.

But that’s the morbid situation she faces due to plans by the Panama Canal Authority to build a new reservoir that will feed the crucial waterway that handles about 5% of the world’s shipping.

The canal authority — an autonomous government agency — says the Rio Indio reservoir project is essential to keep the waterway functioning because the impacts of fossil fuel pollution and El Niño , a natural climate pattern, have made this area of central Panama increasingly prone to droughts. To make way for what will be the third reservoir to serve the canal, an area of more than 11,000 acres that is currently home to schools, churches, farms and cemeteries will have to be flooded and at least 1,600 residents re-homed.

That will upend the lives of locals like 27-year-old Sánchez and her two young daughters, whose rural town of Limón de Chagres is one of dozens of communities along the Indio River that will be affected. The cemetery where her family members are buried is one of eight in the flood zone that will have to be exhumed.

“This took me completely by surprise,” Sánchez said. “I never imagined they would dare to interfere with something so sensitive to us as rural people.”

The canal authority has said that relocating the remains will be coordinated in advance with family members, with respect for religious beliefs, cultural sensitivities and emotional ties. Local authorities will cover the cost of the whole process — from new coffins or urns to headstones at the new sites.

But many residents say there’s no humane way to carry out an exhumation, especially on ancestral lands where more than five generations are buried.

“It is hard enough to endure the pain of losing a family member, but I feel that when they dig them up again, you re-live that pain all over again,” Sánchez said.

A government decree ended burials at El Limón cemetery in July. The seven other cemeteries will become off-limits for burials in January 2027. Construction on the reservoir is expected to begin in 2028 with the project slated for completion between 2031 and 2032.

The canal authority says that, when completed, the new reservoir will both boost its operations by 10 to 15% and help supply water to nearby communities.

“It represents a significant step towards canal sustainability, reliability, and competitiveness, for the benefit of all Panamanians and global trade,” the ACP said in February last year, while pledging to set aside funds for compensating, resettling and supporting families and property owners.

However, many locals are skeptical of how much compensation they will receive — if any at all. They have also raised fears over whether farming and fishing communities will be able to sustain themselves.

Olegario Cedeño Rojas, 40, a farmer in Limón de Chagres, is among those skeptics.

All four of his grandparents are buried in El Limón cemetery. Exhuming them, he says, means reliving the pain of losing them. And losing his land means losing the foundation of his life, he told CNN.

“How can they compensate me with something permanent — something enduring — when I am giving up my land, my life, and everything I have?” he asked. “The land is our life insurance — our only permanent, enduring asset of value and the sole source of livelihood for all of us farmers.”

Olegario Cedeño Rojas

For most people, farming, fishing and river transport are all they know. While farmers fear the land they’re relocated to will be less fertile, workers in river transport — such as Sánchez, who boats people up and down the Indio — fear the project could limit their access to the water. Fishermen, too, have reason to worry.

Experts warn that the dam needed to create the reservoir will disrupt the river’s natural flow, to the detriment of marine life. LeRoy Poff, biology professor at Colorado State University and a river ecology expert, says fish species moving up and down the river to reproduce will be hindered by the dam, dealing a blow to a vital source of food and income for locals and downstream communities.

The socio-environmental manager of the reservoir project, Karina Vergara, told CNN that the areas to be resettled were nearby and would have similar soil and conditions favorable to farming.

However, she admitted the land had not yet been formally acquired, saying the authority was still negotiating with the current owners and that some of the areas still needed infrastructure such as roads.

Asked to put a date on the resettlements, she said there was no specific timeline because the canal was committed to “doing this process gradually and carefully, working with the people.” But she said resettlement was still slated for sometime in 2027 and that the first relocations would be to areas where basic infrastructure such as houses, schools and roads were already in place.

For many residents, uncertainties over the timeline have only added to their anxiety, while experts say the whole process seems far behind schedule.

“I would think that at this point they would at least have relocation sites and would start recreating farms,” said Osvaldo Jordan, CEO of wetlands conservation organization CREHO.

Sánchez, meanwhile, says the process hasn’t been as mutual and collaborative as authorities make it seem.

“They make decisions about us as if we were mere objects,” Sánchez said. “We are not objects to be moved around.”

Daniel Gonzalez/Anadolu/Getty Images

Relocating populations to make way for dams is far from unprecedented in the region — though the practice often proves controversial. Similar debates were sparked by the building of Brazil’s Belo Monte dam , inaugurated in 2016, which displaced more than 40,000 people; and Colombia’s El Quimbo dam, on which construction began in 2011.

In the case of El Quimbo, the Colombian government handed over land to 94 displaced families in 2024, but some campaigners estimate the true number of people affected runs into the hundreds or even thousands.

Back on the Indio River, Panama appears to have calculated that any such controversy is outweighed by the importance of the project, which it has deemed a “top priority for national water security,” and its need to protect the canal — which contributes an estimated 8% of the country’s total annual GDP.

Panama has a traditionally dry season that spans January to March, and a traditionally wet season from May to November, according to the country’s meteorology institute .

The growing impacts of both natural El Niño patterns and man-made climate change are forcing the decision to build the new reservoir, officials say, because the country needs to store additional water during unusually wet dry seasons so it can be used when wet seasons turn out to be unusually dry.

January to March of this year saw the area’s wettest dry season on record, said Steve Paton, director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Physical Monitoring Program in Panama. That was soon followed by the driest April-to-July period ever, according to Paton, who said the effects were “almost certainly the result of El Niño making itself felt.”

Still, while the canal authority insists the reservoir is “for the benefit all Panamanians and global trade,” for many locals along the Indio River it is hard to see past the more immediate effects it will have on their daily lives.

Alongside their fears over relocation and livelihoods, the expected disruptions to the flow of the river have raised doubts about whether the Indio can continue to be used as a transport route connecting many small villages and communities.

Northwest of Limón de Chagres is El Jobo de Rio Indio, where Alexis Rodriguez grew up and still visits.

He’s been living in Panama City for about a decade and travels the Indio River by boat for his trips back. Uncertainty over the dam’s effects have left him wondering how he will be able to visit his 91-year-old grandfather who raised him.

Courtesy of Alexis Rodriguez

Like Sánchez and Cedeño Rojas, he has loved ones buried in a cemetery slated for relocation. His great-grandparents have been there for 30 years, and other ancestors, even longer.

“Having to open (the grave sites) up again and remove a loved one from there … it is very sad, painful and deeply shocking,” he said.

For Sánchez, the new reservoir threatens to uproot not only generations past, but her daughters’ futures. Her 7-year-old hears the conversations around her, sees the protests in her community and notices the visiting canal personnel.

“Mom, are they really going to flood us with water? Are we going to end up underwater?” she asks. “Where are we going to move?”

But without the answer from authorities, Sanchez wonders: “How are we, as adults, supposed to give it to our children?”

CNN’s Michael Rios and Lisa Wong contributed to this report.

Aris Mariota/法新社/盖蒂图片社

15 年前，当玛丽塞尔·桑切斯的家人埋葬她的祖母时，她从未想过有一天她会不得不把祖母挖出来。

但由于巴拿马运河管理局计划建造一座新水库，为这条承担着全球约 5% 航运量的关键水道供水，她正面临着这种令人担忧的局面。

运河管理局（一个独立的政府机构）表示，里约因迪奥水库项目对于维持运河的正常运转至关重要，因为化石燃料污染和厄尔尼诺现象（一种自然气候模式）的影响，使得巴拿马中部这一地区越来越容易遭受干旱。为了修建这条运河的第三个水库，超过11000英亩的土地将被淹没，这片土地目前分布着学校、教堂、农场和墓地，至少1600名居民需要重新安置。

这将彻底改变像27岁的桑切斯和她的两个年幼女儿这样的当地居民的生活。她们居住的乡村小镇利蒙德查格雷斯是印第奥河沿岸数十个受灾社区之一。她家人的墓地位于洪水区，是需要迁葬的八个墓地之一。

“这让我完全措手不及，”桑切斯说。“我做梦也没想到他们竟然胆敢干涉我们农村居民如此敏感的事情。”

运河管理部门表示，遗骸迁移事宜将事先与家属协调，充分尊重宗教信仰、文化习俗和情感纽带。地方政府将承担所有费用，包括新的棺材或骨灰盒以及新墓地的墓碑等。

但许多居民表示，没有一种人道的方式可以进行掘墓，尤其是在埋葬了五代以上祖先的祖地上。

桑切斯说：“失去亲人的痛苦已经够难熬了，但我觉得当他们再次被挖出来时，你会再次经历那种痛苦。”

政府法令于7月终止了埃尔利蒙公墓的埋葬活动。其他七座公墓也将于2027年1月起停止埋葬。水库建设预计将于2028年启动，项目计划于2031年至2032年间完工。

运河管理部门表示，新水库建成后，不仅将使其运营能力提高 10% 至 15%，还有助于向附近社区供水。

“这代表着运河在可持续性、可靠性和竞争力方面迈出了重要一步，造福所有巴拿马人和全球贸易，”非加太集团去年2月表示，同时承诺拨出资金用于补偿、安置和支持家庭和业主。

然而，许多当地居民对他们能获得多少补偿（如果有的话）持怀疑态度。他们还担心农业和渔业社区能否维持生计。

40 岁的 Olegario Cedeño Rojas 是利蒙德查格雷斯 (Limón de Chagres) 的一名农民，也是持怀疑态度的人之一。

他的四位祖父母都葬在埃尔利蒙公墓。他说，掘墓意味着重温失去亲人的痛苦。他对CNN说，失去土地就意味着失去生活的根基。

他问道：“我放弃了土地、生命和所有的一切，他们怎么能给我一些永久的、持久的东西作为补偿呢？土地就是我们的生命保障——我们唯一永久的、持久的、有价值的资产，也是我们所有农民唯一的生计来源。”

奥莱加里奥·塞德尼奥·罗哈斯

对大多数人来说，务农、捕鱼和水路运输就是他们生活的全部。农民们担心搬迁后的土地会变得贫瘠，而像桑切斯这样在印第奥河上载客的河路运输工人则担心该项目会限制他们使用水域的权利。渔民们也有理由感到担忧。

专家警告说，修建水库所需的堤坝将扰乱河流的自然流向，对水生生物造成不利影响。科罗拉多州立大学生物学教授、河流生态专家勒罗伊·波夫表示，堤坝将阻碍鱼类在河流中上下游洄游繁殖，这将对当地居民和下游社区重要的食物和收入来源造成打击。

水库项目的社会环境经理卡琳娜·维加拉告诉 CNN，待安置的地区就在附近，土壤和条件与原址相似，都适合耕作。

然而，她承认这块土地尚未正式征用，并表示有关部门仍在与现有所有者进行谈判，而且部分地区仍需要道路等基础设施。

当被问及安置的具体日期时，她表示没有具体的时间表，因为运河管理方承诺“逐步谨慎地推进这项工作，并与当地民众合作”。但她表示，安置工作仍计划在2027年的某个时候进行，首批安置地点将选择那些房屋、学校和道路等基本基础设施已经到位的地区。

对于许多居民来说，时间表的不确定性只会加剧他们的焦虑，而专家表示，整个过程似乎远远落后于计划。

“我认为到了现在，他们至少应该有安置地点，并开始重建农场了，”湿地保护组织 CREHO 的首席执行官奥斯瓦尔多·乔丹说。

与此同时，桑切斯表示，这个过程并不像当局所表现的那样是相互合作的。

桑切斯说：“他们对待我们就像对待物品一样做决定。我们不是可以随意摆弄的物品。”

Daniel Gonzalez/Anadolu/Getty Images

在该地区，为了修建水坝而迁移人口并非史无前例，尽管这种做法常常引发争议。巴西的贝洛蒙特大坝（于2016年落成）和哥伦比亚的埃尔金博大坝（于2011年开始建设）都曾引发类似的争论，前者导致超过4万人流离失所。

以埃尔金博为例，哥伦比亚政府于 2024 年向 94 个流离失所的家庭移交了土地，但一些活动人士估计，受影响的实际人数可能达到数百甚至数千人。

回到印第奥河，巴拿马似乎认为，任何此类争议都比不上该项目的重要性，巴拿马已将该项目视为“国家水安全的首要任务”，并且需要保护运河——据估计，运河贡献了该国每年GDP的8%。

根据巴拿马气象研究所的说法，巴拿马传统上1月至3月为旱季，5月至11月为雨季。

官员们表示，厄尔尼诺现象和人为气候变化的日益加剧的影响迫使该国决定修建新的水库，因为该国需要在异常潮湿的旱季储存额外的水，以便在雨季反而异常干旱时使用。

史密森尼热带研究所巴拿马物理监测项目主任史蒂夫·帕顿表示，今年1月至3月是该地区有记录以来最潮湿的旱季。帕顿说，紧随其后的是有史以来最干旱的4月至7月，他认为这些影响“几乎可以肯定是厄尔尼诺现象造成的”。

尽管运河管理部门坚称水库“造福所有巴拿马人和全球贸易”，但对于印第奥河沿岸的许多当地居民来说，很难看到它对他们日常生活的直接影响之外的其他影响。

除了对搬迁和生计的担忧之外，预计河流流量的中断也引发了人们对印第奥河是否还能继续作为连接众多小村庄和社区的运输路线的怀疑。

利蒙德查格雷斯 (Limón de Chagres) 西北部是印第奥河畔埃尔乔博 (El Jobo de Rio Indio)，亚历克西斯·罗德里格斯 (Alexis Rodriguez) 在那里长大，现在仍会到访。

他在巴拿马城生活了大约十年，每次往返都乘船沿印第奥河而上。由于大坝的影响尚不明朗，他不知道自己以后该如何去看望抚养他长大的91岁高龄的祖父。

承蒙 Alexis Rodriguez 惠允

和桑切斯、塞德尼奥·罗哈斯一样，他的亲人也葬在即将迁址的墓地里。他的曾祖父母已经在那里安葬了30年，其他祖先的墓地则更久远。

他说：“不得不再次打开（墓地），把亲人从那里移走……这非常令人悲伤、痛苦和震惊。”

对桑切斯来说，新建水库不仅威胁到几代人的过去，也威胁到她女儿们的未来。她7岁的女儿能听到周围的议论，看到社区里的抗议活动，还能注意到来访的运河工作人员。

“妈妈，他们真的要用水淹没我们吗？我们会不会被淹死？”她问。“我们该搬到哪里去？”

但由于当局没有给出答复，桑切斯不禁疑惑：“作为成年人，我们应该如何把它交给我们的孩子呢？”

CNN的迈克尔·里奥斯和丽莎·王对本报道亦有贡献。