Study Team
Dr. Yaw Opoku Ankomah
Ms. Louisa Sawyerr
Mr. Peter Obour
1. Introduction
The Water Resources Commission of Ghana (WRC) is leading the implementation of the project, titled, “Reoptimisation and Reoperation Study of Akosombo and Kpong Dams” which aims to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction through restoration of downstream ecosystems, food systems and livelihoods by reoperation of the Akosombo and Kpong dams. The Project seeks specifically to examine techniques for optimizing major hydropower dams and the electrical grids into which they feed, to enable a more natural flow pattern to be re-established into the Lower Volta River. The expectation is that the project will improve the reliability and access to water, food and energy, thereby improving livelihoods on a local, regional and transboundary level. The beneficiaries of the project are expected to include the riparian communities located downstream of the dam whose food production, livelihoods, and access to groundwater will be markedly improved, and whose flood risks will be reduced. The project is expected to also contribute to a global process of shared learning on the techniques and benefits of dam reoperation.
The Centre for African Wetlands (CAW) was contracted to lead the implementation of four specific assignments under the project, one of which was the literature review and summary report on all parameters pertaining to environmental and livelihood flow requirements. The importance of the literature review is to put into perspective the concept of the project in relation to existing information on key project objectives.
Development of dams usually changes flow regimes because of storage and releases of water from the reservoirs according to the demands of the systems. The changes in the flow regimes impact negatively on the environment and livelihoods as seen in the Volta Basin. In view of this, some controlled flows close to the natural flows are required to mitigate the
environmental impacts and restore livelihoods.
The systematic literature search focused on eight broad subject areas identified under the assignment, namely, background to the Akosombo and Kpong dams, aquatic ecosystems,
aquatic weeds, fisheries, soil fertility, groundwater availability, waterborne diseases and downstream community livelihoods. The literature search included searches on the internet, key peer reviewed journals, the Volta River Authority (VRA) library, the Volta Basin Research Project (VBRP) library and other secondary sources such as government documents and published books.
Generally there was a dearth of literature specifically on the Volta River as per the terms of reference given, so the major challenge encountered in delivering this assignment was the lack of adequate quantitative information pertaining to specific environmental and livelihood flow requirements in Ghana. The report provides brief information on key issues as well as useful sources for easy access by partners and is structured in two parts. Part I provides a general overview of the information gathered in the literatures search, while Part II is an Annotated Bibliography providing summaries of the individual relevant publications/reports located under the various subject areas.
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