One of the reasons was to control the Chagres River. The creation of Gatun Lake created a freshwater reservoir higher than sea level. Vessels enter the Canal, c

One of the reasons was to control the Chagres River. The creation of Gatun Lake created a freshwater reservoir higher than sea level. Vessels enter the Canal, climb up to the level of the Lake and are dropped back down to sea level. I have to wonder if the third set of locks (what I think they're calling Neo-Panamax locks) uses more water than the original 110 x 1000 locks. There must be a way to recycle water for use in Panama City and Colon. It's not practicable to re-use the water for canal operations because the water would have to be raised back up to the level of Gatun Lake and it would take an enormous amount of energy to do so. As I recall, spillage from canal operations was never used to generate electricity, but that might no longer be the case.