By Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo
The unwillingness on the part of [some] water users in the Black Volta Basin to register their operations with the Water Resources Commission has been identified as a challenge for the Commission in its efforts to regulate and manage the country’s water resources.
The Head of the Black Volta Basin, Ing. Dr. Joachim Ayiiwe Abungba, who made the observation, noted that without proper registration of water users in the basin, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to regulate their activities to ensure sustainable utilisation of the Basin’s water resources.
He was speaking during a facility tour of the Jambussi Headworks.
GBC’s Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo reports that the tour was organised for some selected students and stakeholders as part of the World Water Day celebration in the Upper West Region.
The students who were selected from four schools, namely: Wa Senior High, Wa Senior High Technical, Wa Islamic Girls’ and St. Francis Xavier Minor Seminary were commissioned as ambassadors of “Accelerating Change” in their localities.
The Supervisor-Water Quality Assurance of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Raymond Mensah took the students and other visitors through the processes of purification at the Jambussi Headworks.
Dr. Joachim Ayiiwe Abungba equally touched on the major challenges hampering water resource management in the Black Volta Basin.
He pointed out: “The major challenges to water resource management in the Basin include, farming and deforestation along the banks of water bodies and illegal mining on some parts of the Black Volta River.”
“With regard to groundwater resources, the major challenge faced is the uncontrolled drilling of boreholes and the use of unlicensed drilling companies in the drilling and construction of boreholes. Resulting in a situation where we have some boreholes not having or producing water for people,” Dr. Abungba observed.
The Production and Water Quality Manager of GWCL, Cletus Diekuu called for all hands on deck to protect water sources.
He noted: “The advice for all of us is that, the water that we see there, is for all of us. That is what we use, so we should do well to manage this water well so that it will be safe for consumption. If you are involved in any activity that is contributing to the pollution of the water, then you change your mind. Let us change. If somebody is doing it, and you have seen it and you don’t report it, it is up to you, because that person’s activity is affecting all of us.”
The Upper West Regional Director of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, Ato Quansah, stressed the need for the “Riparian Buffer Zone” to be well protected.
A riparian buffer zone is an area adjacent to a water body where no chemical and organic fertilisers, cultivation and spraying can be carried out.
