By Fatima Anafu- Astanga
Bolgatanga, Nov. 24, GNA – A two-day workshop organized for stakeholders in the White Volta Basin and counterparts from Blue Deal Bourkina Faso has ended with the Gambaga Sub Basin committee coming out with a few integrated Water resource management (IWRM)plans for implementation next year.
The workshop organized by the Water Resources Commission aimed among others to enhance transboundary cooperation and for stakeholders to share experiences and problems on IWRM interventions both in Ghana and Burkina Faso, it offered opportunities for stakeholders to discuss and learn from each other their problems in water resource management and solutions as well as future collaborations with Burkina Faso.
Mr Jaab Bos, of Blue Deal, who spoke in an interview said the two-day capacity building and water governance meeting was inspiring and served as a solid base for IWRM implementation and a way forward for laying the foundation for a sustainable future of the Gambaga sub-basin.
He noted that though the interventions for Basin which takes off in 2024 are prioritized in ranking order, it required a lot of responsibilities from parties identified for implementation.
The Gambaga sub-basin is second out of nine basins of the White Volta and the plans identified for implementation according to Mr Bos identify and prioritize activities, identify responsibilities and a layout for the Gambaga basin in IWRM interventions.
Mr Aron Aduna, Project Manager of Blue Deal who spoke on IWRM Ghana and Burkina Faso reiterated the significant level of collaboration both countries had received in the past for the promotion of dialogue and cooperation in the management of international river basins.
He indicated among them, the Ghana Burkina Faso joint technical committee for IWRM set up in 2005 which became operational in 2007, and the local transboundary committee (CTGEN).
Some successes chalked in the collaboration according to Mr Aduna were the willingness of communities to release lands for conservation and riverbank protection through efforts of some National, decentralized departments, NGOs and communities notable among the communities engaged were Sampema, Zekeze and mognore communities.
He said another success chalked was a basin Water Audit and dealing with pollution an early warning of communities with information on a spillage from the Burkina Faso dam.
The first Basin created is the Kpasenkpe sub- basin which a number of activities had started including a special reforestation project in the Bongo district.
The first day of the meeting witnessed presentations from each stakeholder including Blue Deal Burkina Faso, the Mouhoum Water Basin and the Nakambe Water Agency, which organization is a federation of stakeholders from decentralized services of the state in Burkina Faso and their local authorities among other functions initiate local level actions to develop, promote and protect public water domain and water users.
GNA