Although the United Nations has predicted that in view of the fast rate of depletion of fresh water sources a severe shortage of drinking water would hit the entire world by 2025, an even greater danger looms over Ghana. Ghanaians may embrace a shortage of water unprecedented in the history of the country in eight years (2015), should the destruction of fresh water bodies continue at the present rate.

Sharing this gloomy picture in an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Observer newspaper, Nana Dwemoh Sarpong, President of Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies, an NGO said `The case in Ghana is more serious than it was two years ago. Even though the United Nations has predicted that by the year 2025 the world population will increase by three billion and there won’t be water to drink and they are finding means to get water, Ghana’s water has reduced to about 2015. This is because Ghanaians are destroying water bodies every day.`

He lamented that in the two major cities of Accra and Kumasi people are allowed to build on waterways such as ponds and streams which are meant to harvest rainwater and do the natural networking, saying `when they are blocked they stay on the streets and destroy them at a cost to everyone.` Confirming the precarious state of the world`s fresh water resources, nana Dwemoh disclosed further that a five-year study conducted by a team of about 600/700 research scientists has proven that `if a radical step is not taken to check the abuse of water bodies we cannot survive after the next 50 years.`

According to Nana Dwemoh, who is a member of the International Fresh Water Organisation, Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies have over the years collaborated with other NGOs and government to manage to put back the vegetative cover for water bodies, starting from Yendi in the Northern Region of Ghana. He disclosed that Burkina Faso, Togo and Ghana have jointly set up a commission to manage the Volta Lake, saying “So we are giving much in terms of putting back the perennial cover.` He however lamented that because no action is taken against those who abuse vegetation around water sources, what is being lost through such activities is very difficult to replace.

He also expressed great pain at the observation that some District Assemblies are not tackling the water problem. `It is more than what we are putting back,` he said, adding, `It is a very worrying situation.` He thus called on government to do something about it. `We have borrowed the environment and we should use it and pay with interest,` he said. Nana Dwemoh also called for an `integrated water management by all for all. He further maintained that as there are water bodies almost everywhere, it may not be possible to assign such responsibility to just an individual or group of persons. He said in view of this, Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies were advocating that everybody should take care of the water body in their locality `whether it is a small pond or whatever.`

`You my see it as a pond but it is recharging underground water, or as a small stream but it is a tributary to a big river,` he said, explaining that if a tributary does not join a big river, that river will dry up. `Managing water must be done with a holistic approach, but unfortunately in this country we are only concerning ourselves with the supply of water,` he noted. Nana Dwemoh noted that without fresh water there would be no water to supply, stressing, `We are using so much money to make the infrastructure, but after the infrastructure there wouldn’t be any water flowing into the rivers; rivers to the dam for us to drink it.` He condemned such approach as not the best; emphasising that water is not only needed for drinking purposes.

The President of Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies explained that water is as well needed for domestic use, for farming, and a great percentage for general agricultural purposes, adding that what is used in the home is just a small percentage. `If government or any particular groups of people are concerned with the water to use in the house, they are missing it, he asserted. `No water, no germination – animals need water, so no water no animals. We can’t get fish without water, If we want to develop our aqua culture here…we don`t need to go into the sea before we get some fishes, he ranted on. `We should be growing fishes here, and all these water bodies serve those purposes. Apart from that the rivers house so much aquatic life.

There are also biodiversity that live in the water bodies, as well as small animals that live by water. `If we are destroying all the rivers, all animals that grow trees will also die. If we are looking at water as only for domestic use, then that is not it. The international community is looking at water for everything- for hydro and for agriculture which cannot be guaranteed without fresh water. Fresh water guarantees food security. The rate at which our rivers are drying up, food security is threatened,` Nana Dwemoh passionately supplied.

Touching on fresh water as a worthy tool to minimize poverty, Nana said without water no one can reduce poverty. `This is an agricultural country and as an agricultural country we have to farm, we have to irrigate constructing small bank dams as is done in Burkina Faso and on a small scale in the Northern Region of Ghana,` he said, stating further that water is also needed for sanitary purposes. The water man reiterated that at the Rio de Janeiro summit in 1992 it was agreed that everybody must concentrate on fresh water and not on pipe-borne or domestic water. “The issue was on fresh water which is being threatened, he re-echoed.

For now, although Ghana used to be well endowed with many water sources, wanton destruction of trees in their catchment area and misuse of the water bodies, have all contributed to depletion of this source of life. Among the well-known water bodies impacted upon by man`s dastardly acts and cruelty to nature, are the Densu River now reduced to size, River Prah, River Ankobrah, on whose bed farmers grow tomatoes during the dry season and which eventually results in siltation once the rains set in, as well as the Tano River Basin.

In fact all the major rivers in the country are so silted during the dry season and plagued with erosion during the rainy season in view of the sand that is made to collect on its bed. As such, the once buoyant rivers virtually shrink in size, says Nana Dwemoh. He disclosed that in 1996 when his NGO went to Yendi to grow mango trees along River Oti, tributary of the Volta Lake when it was realised the lake had begun drying up, they thought that that action which was lauded by many watchers would be continued by somebody but several appeals for assistance were not heeded.

Nana Dwemoh, also member of Global Water Partnership and Country Director for International Rainwater Harvesting and his NGO however replicated the effort along Lake Bosumtwi in the Ashanti Region where coconut, orange and mango trees were planted. River Bia at Dormaa Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo Region was the next to follow about eight years ago as well as the Kintampo waterfall, he said. In many places tree planting is used as a tool to reduce poverty, according to Nana Dwemoh. He disclosed that after trees have been planted in towns their care is put in the hands of Unit Committees who make sure they are not destroyed, citing that at Lake Bosumtwi the coconut is sold and proceeds used for development projects.

Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies was formed in 1989 when it was realised that there were laws protecting everything whilst water was left out. Activities of the NGO which is funded by its members include advocacy, education and how to solve identified problems which most times involve the planting of trees along the country`s major rivers from Paga to southern Ghana.

Its members, including associates across the entire country grow economic trees such as coconut and orange trees to reduce poverty. “We realised that water is life and without water you can’t do anything, so we decided to…we realised that the abuse of water creates health hazards. If you build on a waterway, if you block water it creates stagnant water, it breeds mosquitoes, it also creates cholera, typhoid and other diseases he submitted, adding `water, if it is not allowed to flow peacefully like God wants it, creates health hazards.`