Accra, Oct 19, GNA- Government has this year, made conscious efforts to dredge portions of the White Volta to reduce the perennial flooding that occurs around the upper regions as a result of the spillage of the Bagre dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
“This year, one thing that stood up for local action is the dredging of portions of the White Volta River, which floods annually.
“So this year, we are experiencing no floods even if the Bagre dam is spilled”, Ms Adwoa Paintsil, Director in-charge of Environmental Quality, Water Resources Commission, said assuredly.
She was speaking to the Ghana News Agency at the ongoing second Climate Chance Summit Africa 2019, scheduled to close on Friday.
The three-day Climate Chance Summit Africa 2019, which opened on Wednesday, had gathered subnational, local governments and non-state actors in Africa, to discuss and strengthen coalitions in the implementation of adopted climate actions in Africa.
Ghana is hosting the summit in collaboration with the Climate Chance Association, a global body, and the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana, as well as the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
Ms Paintsil explained that the annual flooding of the White Volta was not only due to the spilling of the Bagre dam but also due to the sedimentation of the river channels.
She said most of the channels were so choked that islands had formed at certain portions and this had led to the dredging in places that experienced flooding.
She indicated that the dredging, which was still ongoing, was being undertaken by the government through the Ministries of Works and Housing, Food and Agriculture, and the Environment and Science, under a project called the “the emergency flood mitigation works of the White Volta,.
She said the project also involved a programme of developing some portions of the land around the area for farmers to prevent them from farming within the riverbeds as they used to do.
She said the project also involved building a dam at Pwalugu, as part of the long term plan to be able to hold the flood waters within the river.
Ms Paintsil recounted that before the dredging started, sedimentation had reached a level that with the least rain, flooding occurred in the area.
“The President himself have gone there to inspect the work, and he is happy with it” she noted.
The Bagre dam is usually opened around August and September every year, the peak raining season for the upper regions of Ghana and in Burkina Faso.
Ms Paintsil explained that over the years, the Burkinabe authorities had raised the volume of their dam by 1.5 meters to hold back a lot of water.
However, there were still flooding in the region and so Ghana, decided to dredge the river for the water could flow.
She noted that if the dredged channels were maintained, the flooding of the area would be a thing of the past.
There is also the development of early flood warning systems as well as local maps developed for local government for them to demarcate their spatial planning areas for flooding.
Earlier, Ms Paintsil announced at a side-event that Ghana had taken measures to roll out various activities and programmes as a means of adapting to climate change impact, especially in the area of flooding and water security.
“So far, we have done quite a number of interventions, some policy and real actions on the ground.
There was also the Dakar River restoration project, a tributary of the Volta River, she added.
