By Edmund Smith-Asante
 |
| Dr Joseph Addo Ampofo |
Ghana has no problem with water
sources, but potable water sources are diminishing at such a fast rate that the
country faces a looming water crisis by the year 2030, if conditions continue
to persist.
The warning was issued by the
Director of WRI, Dr Joseph Addo Ampofo, last Tuesday in an interview with the
Daily Graphic on a day that had been set aside by the global community as World
Water Day (WWD).
“There is the misconception that
Ghana is 70 per cent covered with water. Even with the abuses, water will not
depart from Ghana but the quality cannot be guaranteed,” he stated.
No respect for water
Dr Ampofo said many of the country’s
water sources had been heavily polluted over the years with rubbish, chemicals
used in mining such as mercury and inorganic fertiliser used for agriculture,
because Ghanaians did not respect water and had taken it for granted.
But he cautioned that the combined
effect of the increase in temperature, evaporation and the pollution of the
country’s water sources were plunging the country into severe water crisis that
would make Ghana a Sahelian country.
Citing examples of water bodies that
were now extinct or were no more potable, he said “the Odaw River is now dead
and not suitable for anything,” adding that global warming had resulted in a
global rise in temperature of one per cent.
“In Ghana we can get about 5 per
cent increase in temperature in some areas, so areas are beginning to dry up,”
Dr Ampofo said. He stated that the rate at which the Densu River was drying up
had also increased this year, just as the WRI had predicted before 1996.
He said “buffer zones are being
abused with people now farming on river beds when they recede, therefore
increasing the dryness and evaporation”.
Effects of polluted water usage
The pollution from agriculture, poor
environmental sanitation and mining, apart from posing a threat to the
availability of potable water, have also resulted in very serious health
consequences for every Ghanaian.
According to Dr Ampofo, research
conducted by WRI showed that the use of water contaminated with algae and
chemicals, for agriculture results in kidney, nervous and heart diseases.
Expressing his exasperation, he said
the CSIR had warned the government of where the country was heading if steps
were not taken immediately to stop the incessant pollution of water sources,
but little had been done.
“If you use the polluted water to
irrigate your seedlings they will die. We are wishing the country the best but
hoping that someone somewhere will listen. Either we stop abusing our water
bodies now or abuse it for Ghana to become a Sahel country,” he warned.
Boreholes
Dr Ampofo stated that although
hitherto it was the surface water bodies that were polluted, several tests
conducted on water from many boreholes across the country showed that pollution
of the groundwater had resulted in unwholesome water from the boreholes.
He lamented that many boreholes were
being sunk in the country, but no one was checking the level of the country’s
groundwater, adding, “If many boreholes are sunk in the same area the soil will
cave in.”
Dr Ampofo stated that although the
CSIR used to monitor boreholes in the country, the project, which was funded by
Danish Development Agency (DANIDA), had since ended and the council lacked the
needed funds to continue.
System failure
He said the fact that 500ml of water
currently sold for GH¢1 showed that water was getting more expensive than fuel,
which currently sells around GH¢3.37 for a litre.
Describing the high patronage of
bottled and sachet water by people as a system failure, he said “we have failed
as a country. We cannot provide basic water for the people. People do not trust
the tap water produced by the Ghana Water Company.”
This
story was first published by the Daily Graphic on March 29, 2016
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