Galamsey, the silent Akosombo Hydropower Plant Destroyer.
In Ghana, illegal gold mining locally known as “Galamsey” has created public concern [2]. The country has a standing history with galamsey, it existed as far back as the eighth century as a household economic activity. The Small-Scale Mining Law (PNDCL 218) 1989 was passed and public policies formulated to ease the implementation of the law (Kessey & Arko, 2013). Symptoms of galamsey arise when the community has not requested or have not been able to apply the legislation. Although illegal mining can help reduce poverty, it has a negative impact on forest resources [3] and severe environmental problems [4]. Mining operations degrade the ground through drilling, fortifications, explosions, and the burning of waste, all of which disturb the topsoil [5]. Illegal mining method uses dredger and boat or barge by using a chanfan machine. In this method, the mud containing gold seeds in the bottom of the river is sucked from a dumping machine located on a boat or barge, then it is equipped with a sluice box that serves as a filter. The Volta River Systems in Ghana is located in a galamsey endemic regions covering the Bono, Bono East, Northern, Upper East, Upper West and the Savannah regions [21]. There are also new hotspots emerging elsewhere in the Eastern region because gold can be found at shallower depths [27]. Three main gold deposits have been discovered in the Upper West Region and extensively drilled at Kunche and Bepkong, adjacent to the Black Volta River. Several satellite deposits, including Aduane and Collette, have also been earmarked for future use. It is challenging to quantify the exact amount of environmental impact in the Volta Basin, but mining operations leads to soil degradation, and sedimentation [6].
The problem of sedimentation has attracted increasing attention with ever growing concern worldwide [9]. It is disturbing to note that the intensification of illegal mining [7] has caused the loss of agricultural lands [8]. The river ecosystems are increasingly subjected to stress due to these induced activities. The land use change is a contributing factor to sedimentation of reservoirs [10]. The galamsey menace challenge the sustainable management of Akosombo dams’ [11]. The classification of the dam’s storage space as either an exhaustible or a renewable resource depends on choices made by operators of dams. In this context, the impact of galamsey activities in the volta river basin on sediment dynamics is well established in literature. The reservoir sedimentation was assessed in Ghana and found that the annual rate of storage capacity loss ranged from 0.26 to 0.91% [14]. The effects of sedimentation range from a reduction in reservoir water levels, and consequently a reduction in power generation, to increased turbine wear [13]. This issue has led to significant economic challenges for hydropower plants [12]. The power system reliability is constantly being challenged by galamsey. Ghana, has been facing a predictive and cyclical electricity crisis that has lasted over three decades [9]. Although estimates may vary, Ghana averagely experiences 9.65 power outages (Dumsor) every month [14]. Dumsor has enormous cost and crippling effect on Ghana’s economy. A special report by the Governments of United States and Ghana shows that inadequate electricity is one of the three most important factors that will restraint future economic growth in Ghana [10]. On the macroeconomic side, evidence indicates that Ghana loses US$ 2 Billion of GDP due to power outages [13]. For the industrial customer, dumsor may affect the firm’s investment decisions, as they may decide to invest in alternative power sources like standby generators. As the economy develops into middle-income countries and beyond, many socio-economic systems are going to be even more reliant on uninterruptible conventional power supply similar to what is currently existing in developed countries.
Mitigation focuses on efforts to prevent river pollution from illegal gold mining activities before the impacts occur. These preventive measures are crucial given the substantial negative effects of galamsey on hydropower generation and river ecosystems. Mitigation strategies involve a comprehensive approach, ranging from community education to the implementation of environmentally friendly technologies and the adoption of policies that support sustainable dam management
1. No Poverty: Alternative Livelihood
Many miners who participate in galamsey are driven by poverty and a lack of economic alternatives. Enforcement actions such as the destruction of mining equipment and the closure of mining sites have led to social unrest in some areas, as communities dependent on mining for their livelihoods are left without income. These enforcement measures often fail to address the root causes of illegal mining, such as unemployment and land tenure issue. Additionally, enforcement strategies must be coupled with efforts to provide alternative livelihoods for miners and their communities. By addressing the socioeconomic drivers of illegal mining and incorporating community-based approaches to environmental conservation, law enforcement can preserve the integrity of the water body and support sustained hydropower generation.
2. Community education through environmental sensitization
In response, VRA, in collaboration with community members, landowners, and District Assemblies, should launch a Community Education and Environmental Sensitization Programme to accelerate behavioral change and promote the protection of the Volta Lake for sustainable hydropower generation. An increased awareness of the dangers of illegal mining to riparian communities and also to the environment in relation to the future of generations yet to be born. Behaviour change cannot happen overnight, but with proper advocacy and well-planned awareness creation as well as behaviour change communications to these miners in the affected areas can go a long way to help improve the situation. Education on the license being given for small scale mining should be intensified and after giving the miners the license, they should be educated on how cover their pits to avoid dangers posed to their lives as well as others and also how it should be away from water bodies and they not destroy these bodies.
3. Incorporating customary water management
Prior to the colonial era traditional leaders used to manage water resources and they did a good job to maintain and manage these resources. In some communities’ water bodies are not to be visited or, so to speak disturbed on a particular day within a week, because water bodies are termed to be “spirits”; also, livestock were not to be found around or graze along streams and river bodies; No cutting of trees along the river banks as well as the pollution of river bodies; Galamsey activities were not allowed in any river bodies, etc. These methods and practices epitomized the practices of ethnic groups. It helped to minimize deforestation, soil erosion and also was to allow the ecosystem replenish itself. If these are incorporated into the governments’ management it would go a long way in improving and sustaining hydropower generation in Ghana.
4. Reforestation Programme
Rehabilitating affected ecosystems is a crucial step in restoring environmental conditions following pollution events. This effort involves activities such as revegetating degraded land and restoring the ecological functions disrupted by illegal mining operations. Effective rehabilitation not only restores ecosystem integrity but also improves the quality of life for surrounding communities through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. In 2024, VRA handed over a Cashew Demonstration Farm to a Community Based Organisation (CBO) at Akaayaw No. 1 in the Biakoye District of the Oti Region. The project, which is one of several interventions by the Authority to improve livelihood while protecting the Volta Lake, was done in collaboration with the Biakoye District Department of Food and Agriculture and fully funded by the VRA Cashew for Land (Cashland) Project.
5. Sustainable use of reservoirs
Management activities to address reservoir sedimentation may be classified into four broad categories: (1) methods to reduce sediment inflow from upstream, (2) methods to pass sediment through or around the impoundment to minimize sediment trapping, (3) methods to redistribute or remove sediment deposits, or (4) methods to adapt to sedimentation. A combination of management strategies will usually be used, and the techniques most suitable for implementation will change over time as the reservoir fills with sediment. The optimum sediment management strategy may consist of a sequence of different techniques to be applied as the reservoir volume diminishes. For example, the venting of turbid density currents may initially be the only feasible technique for passing sediment through a deep and hydrologically large reservoir, but this method may no longer work and other methods may become feasible when reservoir volume has been diminished by sedimentation.
Electricity is the backbone of every economy, both developing and developed. Inadequate supply of power can harm our economy because it can disrupt many several interdependent services such as transportation and financial transactions, health care, public safety, as well as law and order.
