Black Volta Basin Under Threat As A Result Of Human Activities

Human activity has been identified as the biggest threat in the management of the water resources in the Black Volta Basin.

These activities include illegal mining in and along the banks of the Black Volta River, farming and cutting of vegetative cover along the banks of the river.

Mr. Joachim Ayiiwe Abungba, the Black Volta Basin Officer for the Water Resources Commission (WRC), identified this during a visit to the Jambusie Water project located at the basin as part of activities marking the celebration of the World Water Day.

Mr. Abungba who visited the Basin together with officials from the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), the media and selected students from the Wa Senior High Technical School (SHTS) inspired the public to be ambassadors of the campaign to protect water resources since all their livelihood activities revolved around the resource.

He noted that by advocating for the protection of ecosystems and joining the 'green' campaign, the public would be contributing to the bigger goal of restoring their natural resources to their original state, thereby safeguarding water resources for their use and that of posterity.

Mr. Abungba said environmental damage as a result of anthropogenic or human activities together with climate change were drivers of the water related crisis happening around the world.

'These challenges according to the United Nations (UN) has led to about 2.1 billion people globally, living without safe drinking water, which is impacting negatively on their health and livelihoods,' he said.

Mr. Martin K. Ansah-Asante, Upper West Regional Chief Manager of the GWCL, appealed to the public especially the youth to desist from actions that impacted negatively on the ecosystem.

He said actions such as indiscriminate sand winning, deforestation, building on water courses and mining in river beds thwarts efforts to protect and guarantee the required quantity and quality of fresh water for the use of unborn generations.

Mr. Dodji Attiogbe, Upper West Regional Director of CWSA appealed to all especially those living around the basin to desist from open defecation to avoid polluting the water in the river basin which was being drawn to serve people of Wa and its environs.

The World Water Day is a day set aside by the UN in 1993 primarily as a forum for focusing attention on the importance of fresh water and advocating for the sustainable management of fresh water resources.

Locally, the day is marked to highlight the importance of universal access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and to reaffirm commitment towards conservation.

The global theme for this year's celebration is 'Nature for Water' and it seeks to explore how the world can use nature based interventions to overcome the water challenges of the 21st Century.

Students of the Wa SHTS assisted in a symbolic planting of 100 acacia and mahogany tree seedlings along the Black Volta Basin to commemorate the World Water Day celebration.