Anti-flooding measures for Rio Sixaola

The plan was announced at the end of a meeting between Panama’s vice-president and minister of Foreign Affairs, Juan Carlos Varela, and the Costa Rican chancellor, Bruno Stagnon, in Changuinola.

According to the Chancellor, the anti-flooding initiative should start “as soon as possible” and will focus on reducing the vulnerability of the people who live along the banks of the river Sixaola.

The Panama delegation informed the Costa Ricans about the beginning of studies to evaluate the possibility of dredging some sections to reduce the risk of sedimentation of the river bed.

The river Sixaola is 146 km long and flows out into the Caribbean.

According to the Echandi-Fernandez treaty signed between Panama and Costa Rica in 1941, both countries have the rights to free passage along this river which every year overflows its banks causing widespread flooding.