PATRONISE RAIN WATER HARVESTING

By: Ryan Millward

Plans were heard in Cape Coast the other day to mark out and help improve Ghana's water management.

Currently there are many problems with the country's water supply with poor management and broken pipelines being among some of the hindering factors. A scheme dubbed 'The Way Forward' was heard at a meeting in Cape Coast on July 15th that plans to put a comprehensive national development program on water. The way to going forward is in their view to have a sector wide approach, maintenance of water bodies, institutional reforms, sustainability of rural water schemes, harvested rain water and to increase public awareness so people look after water better.

Alban S.K Bagbin

The program is part of Millennium Development Goals that aims to provide improved water to 78% of the Ghanaian population by 2015; currently it stands that around 63% of Ghana's population had access to improved drinking water by the start of this year. At the meeting the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing Alban S.K Bagbin stated that it was not the quality or quantity of the water available that was the problem, but the management and interventions in which water undergoes before reaching the public.

It is a known fact that the huge Volta lake in the center of Ghana could supply enough water consistently for the entire country. It is also known that Ghana Water Company make and provide good quality of water for distribution. But it's everything in between those facts that causes the problem; often water is wasted, stolen or contaminated before it arrives at it's destination. Some of the issues Minister Alban S.KBagbin told were as follows:

"There are so many NUs all performing water sustainability techniques in different ways meaning a collaboration of the 118 NUs throughout Ghana is needed to be more efficient."

"Local governments don't handle the sanitation so it is just down to independent organisations."

"The fish famine has caused caging which puts chemicals in the water as well as the irrigation of dams"

"People are using water wrongly - do we need to wash our cars every day and bath 4 times a day?"

"Communities need to be willing to maintain, pay taxes and be sustainable which many choose not to."

"People need to stop paying 60 pesewas for 500ml bottled water when it is only 80 pesewas for 1000 litres of tap water. Water belongs to god; people shouldn't be making money from it." 

"33% of community ownership management systems break down in 2 or 3 years."

It became clear that there are many concerns and issues around the management of water in Ghana. But things can, and have, been improving for the country's water issues; although there was problems with the coastal regions water supplies having slight salt content in, it was pointed out that the central region had achieved a 75% efficiency rate when drilling for water. In terms of communities getting involved, the minister pointed out that many communities around Kumasi in the Volta region had harvested rainwater successfully in dugouts; because of the success of this, the dugout technique was implemented in 23 surrounding communities.

Some participants

The Water Resources Commission remain intently committed to providing Ghana's communities with good quality water to live off. They remain optimistic in reaching that aforementioned millennium development goal statistic of 75% of the population having improved water sanitation and sustainability by 2015. Their ongoing efforts and actions includes setting up governing bodies to ensure proper management of water in regions, getting the media involved to increase pubic awareness, resolving and preventing conflicts of water and systematic water quality monitoring amongst many more.

As the meeting drew to a close it was apparent that the Ghanaian water companies and governing bodies had many more plans to implement with 'The Way Forward'. Water is of huge importance to people around the world and even more so in a developing country such as Ghana. In the words of the minister "Water is life". If that's the case it appears that the Water Resources Commission are working not only for a better quality of water, but also a better quality of life.