ABSTRACT
The Bayano region is located in the Southeastern section of the Province of Panama. The Bayano river, which runs through the heart of the region, begins on a low ridge separating the provinces of Panama and Darien. Total water volume and sediments that passed down the river prior to the dam amounted to 7 km3 of water and two to three tons of silt annually. Even before the construction of the Bayano Hydroelectric Complex, the Bayano's ecology had significantly changed as a result of the migration of people into the region and subsequent changes in agricultural practices. The dam was built at a time when these changes were accelerating, in effect amplifying its impact. Micro-regional climatic and soil variation also accounts for differences between villages agricultural patterns. Ikanti residents did not plant tubers extensively before the dam; rather they concentrated on fruit trees, coffee, corn and plantains.
