A research fellow at the CSIR-Water Research Institute, Dr. Emmanuel Obuobie, has said that though climate change has some form of impact on the country’s water reserves, its impact is not that significant.
According to him, human activities around the water reserves and bodies of water are what are really hampering the development of the water, thereby causing potential insecurity.
He said that though there are also rules and regulations guarding water bodies in the country, the institutions in charge of the water reserves are unable to enforce such laws due to lots of factors, including interference from political and other influential figures who wouldn’t allow punishment for deserving culprits.
“If we carefully observe how harsh the sun scotches lately, it is true that the sun scotches much on the water bodies and, in a way, takes back into the atmosphere lots of the water, thereby reducing the water level,” Dr. Obuobie stated.
He submitted that climate change exists and has an impact on the country’s water bodies, but its effects are minimal.
“As for climate change, it does exist and is worrying us, but not as much as our own activities we carry around the water bodies,” he added.
He said the activities of illegal miners are one of the human activities that have become a threat to the water reserves in the country.
He disclosed that the harmful effects of illegal mining on human health could be much more damaging than one can imagine, adding that the country has started experiencing some of the harmful effects of illegal mining on its people, such as pregnant women giving birth to children with abnormalities.
He also revealed that the inability of workers from the Water Resources Commission to consistently visit the water reserves to regularly monitor and detect the challenges earlier than later is one of the ways affecting the water bodies.
He said if the human activities done in and around the water bodies could be checked and stopped, enough water could be reserved for future generations.
Dr. Obuobie therefore called on the government and all stakeholders involved in the water industry to work at reducing the incidence of interference in cases of surrounding victims who flout the laws by operating in or close to water reserves.
The researcher has advised Ghanaians to be thankful to God for blessing the country with water bodies like the River Pra and Densu, among others, because some African countries do not have water bodies in their countries and have to resort to other means of getting water.
Dr. Obuobie disclosed this on Thursday, November 22, 2023, during a seminar on “Ghana’s Water Security: Rethinking the Value of Water,” ahead of the main event on November 28 and 29, 2023.
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