Accra, Ghana The Ghana Water Ltd. (GWL) says it urgently requires about GHS 300 million to desilt its major raw-water intakes across the country, excluding the Barekese Dam, which alone holds an estimated six million cubic metres of silt.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Mr Adam Mutawakilu, Managing Director of GWL, said the desilting exercise was critical to restoring the company’s water abstraction capacity and preventing widespread supply disruptions during the dry season.
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He explained that excessive siltation had severely compromised several treatment plants nationwide, leading to frequent shutdowns, increased production costs, and declining output.
“Our treatment plants are struggling. The riverbeds have filled up with silt to the point where pumps are submerged or lying in sludge. Without desilting, even if the surface water looks clean, the pumps cannot draw it for treatment,” he said.
According to him, major water intakes at Owabi, Mampong, Kwanyako, Daboase, Sekyere Hemang, Bonsa, Nsawam, Anyinam, Kibi, Osino, Akim Oda, Odaso, Konongo, Jambusie, Kpeve, Agordome, and Dalun are heavily silted—some now shallow enough to walk across.
Last year, emergency dredging at Owabi and Mampong alone cost GHS 64 million and GHS 13.8 million, respectively. “These interventions kept the abstraction channels open, but the downtime reduced supply to our communities,” the MD added.
He warned that if the situation persists, Ghana could face acute water shortages in the coming dry season. “If the intake points dry up, most of our treatment plants will not be able to operate,” he cautioned.
While desilting other plants would cost GHS 300 million, the Barekese Dam requires a separate large-scale intervention. “Barekese alone contains about six million cubic metres of silt. At GHS 150 per cubic metre, that’s an enormous budget on its own,” he explained, noting that the Water Resources Commission had already classified Barekese as a critical dam in need of special funding.
Mr Mutawakilu added that growing silt loads were increasing treatment and energy costs, forcing GWL to shift from alum to imported polymers to handle high turbidity levels — a change that has increased chemical costs by about 400 percent at some plants, including Barekese, Odaso, and Konongo.
He stressed that as a tariff-regulated utility, GWL could not pass these surging costs on to consumers, creating a widening financial gap between regulated revenue and operational realities.
To address the problem sustainably, GWL has proposed a 24-month Catchment Recovery Plan targeting eight key rivers feeding its treatment plants. The plan involves riverbank re-vegetation, targeted dredging, and community-led land-use enforcement to protect buffer zones.
“If we act at the source, we will spend less each year to produce more water. Targeted upstream interventions will restore abstraction capacity, reduce treatment challenges, and extend the lifespan of our assets,” he said.
The Managing Director called on Corporate Ghana, development partners, and government agencies to support the desilting project financially and logistically. “We are calling on corporate institutions to pick specific rivers and support the desilting with funds, materials, and logistics. Every contribution will be visible, measurable, and auditable,” he emphasised.
Mr Mutawakilu clarified that because GWL’s expenditure is tied to tariffs approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), the company cannot divert operational funds or meter revenues to dredging works.
He also commended the government for its renewed efforts to protect water bodies, citing initiatives such as the Blue Water Guard surveillance operations under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, led by Mr Emmanuel Kofi Buah, and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources under Mr Kenneth Gilbert Adjei.
He further praised President John Dramani Mahama for his leadership through the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and the registration and tracking of mining excavators.
“These measures are yielding encouraging signs—surface turbidity is improving in some rivers—but the riverbeds remain choked. Without desilting, our pumps will still struggle,” Mr. Mutawakilu said.
