Uphold Regulations On Underground And Surface Water Use

The Water Resources Commission (WRC) has expressed concern about the increasing disregard for regulations on surface and underground water use.

Mr. Solomon Danso Ankamah, the Officer in-charge of Tano Basin Secretariat of the Commission, warned that this could create serious water crisis.

The situation where people sunk boreholes for domestic and commercial purposes without authorization, he said needed to stop.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, he indicated that the law – Act 522 (1996) made it mandatory to obtain license from the Commission before anybody could sink a borehole.

Mr. Ankamah made reference to the United Nations (UN) warning that two of every three people were likely to live in a water stress area by year 2025 and said that should make everybody to sit up.

It must not be business as usual and that all should come together to ensure efficient management of the water resource - this should be a shared responsibility.

He rallied Ghanaians to take a firm stand against the pollution and destruction of water bodies and added that this was in the interest of the present and the future generations.

He said it was deeply troubling to see people dump waste into streams and rivers running through communities across the nation.

Relatedly, Dr. Francis Nyagbenu, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has repeated the call for the country to take critical look at promoting effective management of waste water.

He noted that this could be recycled to flush the toilet, for car washing and farm irrigation.

He pointed out that waste water contained a lot of nutrients that were good for agriculture and could assist to substantially reduce fertilizer use by farmers.

Source: GNA