Locals know Dawhenya floods every 3 years but keep building on downstream watercourse - GIDA

The Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) has said Dawhenya has been observed to experience floods every three years when it rains simultaneously in two watersheds yet the locals keep building on waterways downstream.

Refuting claims that the spillage of excess water from the Dawhenya Dam was the cause of the recent flooding of the area, GIDA, in a statement on Thursday, 30 November 2023, said: “The perception that the flood is emanating only from the spilt water from the dam is not factual and can never be".

It said the flow from the second basin is "a major contributor to the flow in the downstream channel as was observed by the GIDA team and the Member of Parliament Hon. Samuel Nartey George, who visited the dam site on Tuesday, 28 November 2023.”

"It is important to note that anytime it rains simultaneously in the two watersheds when the two rivers have the same time of concentration (TC), the flow level rises in the outfall channel".

"It has been established that this phenomenon has a three (3) year re-occurrence interval. The indigenes are aware of but continue to build on the watercourse downstream.”