EPA draws up measures to prevent Bagre Dam flooding
Buffer zones are to be created along the banks of the White Volta and the Sisily River in four districts through which the two rivers run, as a measure to forestall the annual incidence of flooding whenever there is spillage from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso.
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The districts in which the zones would be created are Talensi, Bawku West and Builsa North in the Upper East Region and West Mamprusi in the Northern Region.
The move is the result of a decision reached jointly by the office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Upper East Region in collaboration with the Water Resources Commission (WRC) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
The initiative would also help conserve water and improve water inflows into the Akosombo Dam to help stabilise power generation.
The Upper East Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Asher Nkegbe, made the disclosure in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Bolgatanga. He said the buffer zone project was part of a Canadian-sponsored Ghana Environmental Management Project and a Sustainable Land Management Project, both of which are expected to last for a period of five years and estimated to cost $7.2 million. The projects are aimed at combating desertification and drought in the three northern regions.
According to Mr Nkegbe, the EPA and the development partners would support the assemblies in the various districts to enact by-laws that would prevent farmers from farming close to the banks of the rivers.
Buffer zone initiative
As a component of the initiative, some improved species of woody plants are to be planted along the banks of the rivers.
Mr Nkegbe added, "We would promote natural regeneration and create a 100-metre buffer zone along the banks of the rivers beyond which farmers would not be allowed to undertake any farming activity."
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He observed that when all that was done and farmers embraced the concept, it would go a long way to prevent the annual incidence of flooding in communities, resulting in the loss of lives and properties, anytime there was spillage from the Bagre Dam.
Benefits
According to Mr Nkegbe, if the initiative proved to be successful, there would be enough water all year round in the White Volta to facilitate economic activities, including fishing and farming, in the dry season.
He said the initiative would also improve vegetation cover along the White Volta and help create a conducive habitat for wildlife.
He said farmers in the regions could also take advantage of the abundance of water for large-scale rice farming.
Way forward
In the view of the Director of the EPA, it is necessary to put in place an integrated intervention programme in which farmers would be registered and provided with the required facilities for irrigation. The intervention programme, he said, should include the laying of pipelines and the provision of water pumping machines.
“When pipelines are laid for irrigation, it would prevent farmers from encroaching on the 100 metre buffer zone that would be created,” he said