Members of the Middle White Volta Sub-Basin Committee have met at Kumbungu in the Northern Region to review watershed management plans and identify priority issues affecting water resources in the area.
The meeting, organized by the Water Resources Commission under its Agricultural Growth and Improvement for Livelihood Enhancement (AGILE) project, was funded by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) through the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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The meeting formed part of the implementation of the three-year initiative, implemented in the Savelugu and Kumbungu Districts, which seeks to boost crop yields, increase household incomes and strengthen the resilience of smallholder farming communities.
Mr Jesse Kazapoe, Basin Director, White Volta Basin of the Water Resources Commission, during the meeting, explained that the sub-basin committee formed part of the Commission’s decentralized governance structures for managing water resources within the White Volta Basin.
He said the purpose of the workshop was to review watershed plans developed about two years ago, identify gaps, and explore funding opportunities and partnerships to achieve the committee’s broader goals and aspirations.
He added that, it was also tailored to enhance the capacity of the committee members to enable them execute their mandate effectively.
Participants at review meeting revisited issues raised during the previous meeting, which included open defecation, unregistered sand winning, deforestation, water pollution, bad farming practices, drought, siltation and flooding.
Mr Kazapoe said issues such as deforestation, open defecation, water pollution, siltation, flooding and poor farming practices, at the meeting still topped the list of priorities requiring multifaceted stakeholder support to address. He noted that a peculiar challenge within the Middle White Volta area was unregulated sand winning and water pollution, both resulting from environmental degradation, including cutting down of trees along the riverbanks and said these caused heavy deposits of sand in the White Volta.
Mr Kazapoe stressed that the White Volta River at Nawuni served as the main water source for the Greater Tamale Area, and warned that any damage to the river directly affected water supply to residents. “There are times when the turbidity level of the water is so high that about 30 per cent of already treated water is used to clean the systems before production can continue. This is water that should have gone to homes, but is instead wasted because of pollution caused by activities around the water bodies,” he said.
He underscored need for both local and international development partners to prioritise supporting the initiative to help safeguard the water bodies and promote sustainable agriculture practices. Mr Adam Abdul-Latif, Technical Officer at the Department of Agriculture in the Kumbungu District, commended the meeting, describing it as a useful platform to solicit support to protect water bodies and promote sustainable agriculture and livelihoods in the area.
