Mr Kofi Agbogah, a Research Scientist of the Water Research Institute (WRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Saturday called for collective action to halt the depletion of the country's freshwater resources in terms of quality and quantity since water is the lifeline of humanity and civilisations.

He said the country's supply of freshwater was very limited contrary to general thinking that the opposite was the case and that what was available was being depleted by human action and inaction.

Mr Agbogah sounded the warning in a lecture on "Freshwater" at a symposium for student members of the Green Earth Organisation (GEO) in the Volta Region at Vakpo as part of World Environment Day.

He explained that freshwater supply in the country was only abundant during a good rainy season but for the rest of the year the situation was the opposite.

Mr Agbogah said seepage of salt into fresh water sources, misapplication of fertilizers, bush-burning, improper disposal of domestic waste and farming close to sources of fresh water combine to deplete the quantity and quality of freshwater available to the increasing population of the country.

He said studies between 1950-1991 indicated that the volume of water in the major rivers in the country such as the Volta, Pra, Tano, Oti had decreased drastically.

Mr Agbogah said the River Tano, which for instance, had never dried up suffered that fate in 2001.

He exhorted the students to be crusaders for the protection and judicious use of freshwater sources in their respective communities and homes to demonstrate their commitment to the tenets of the GEO.

Mr Agbogah called for the adoption of the practice of rainwater harvesting which he said was a valuable legacy bequeathed to the country at independence but was not adopted because of the illusion that the country had an inexhaustible supply of freshwater.

He said scarcity of freshwater in the city of Accra and other major towns in the country and the high prices that city dwellers paid for it should be a warning as to what the future would be as far as having access to freshwater for domestic use would be.

Mr Joshua Awuku-Apaw, Director of Information and Education of the GEO said water was supposed to be common when it was protected but it was being transformed into a very scarce commodity with painful consequences for many people because of the failure to take good care of it.

Togbe Ahorney II, Volta Regional Programme Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was important to protect the country's freshwater supply from pollution and depletion because of its sensitive security nature.

He said it was because of this that some people held the view that if there would be any third world war then it would be sparked off over freshwater which was becoming increasingly less available in adequate and safe quantities.

Togbe Ahorney urged members of the GEO who were mainly students not to take their membership as a fanfare but as an obligation to help preserve the environment to ensure enough supply of freshwater in the country.