Water Resources Commission calls for attitudinal change

Mr Bernard Ampomah, Executive Secretary of the Water Resources Commission (WRC), has reiterated the need for a change in behavior towards the use of water resources in order for the country to continue to retain its consistency in the distribution of such resources.

Mr Ampomah said though Ghana’s average per capita requirement of water resources was good enough to meet demands of the country, it was being endangered by human activities such as mining, tree felling, seasonal as well as erratic weather conditions.

He said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, where Journalists in the Upper East Region received training on integrated water Resource Management (IWRM), Water Laws and Regulations organized by WRC.

Mr Ampomah said though the water resources in absolute terms was adequate there were problems of seasonality and spatial distribution issues that threatened adequacy of the water especially in the northern sector of the country.

According to the Executive Secretary, even though water distribution was adequate, quality of water resources was not the best which he said, could affect the purposes for which the water was needed.

With reference to the White Volta, he said it drained 70 per cent of land resources which took a chunk of the water resources, making distribution of the resource uneven. In the care and management of water resources, he suggested continuous education, practical implementation and enforcement of laws and regulations.

Mr Ampomah said WRC had started practical intervention and education of communities for the creation of buffers and added that institutional set up was needed to beef up the efforts by coming out with plans and policies to mitigate the problems.