The Every day Graphic has repeatedly reported that spillage of extra water from the Bagre and Kompienga dams in Burkina Faso inundate giant areas inside the White and Black Volta River basins, adversely affecting farmlands.
Check with articles on Bagre and Kompieng a dam spillage in Every day Graphic of August 19, 21, 29, 2024, which repeatedly discuss with communities downstream the White and Black Volta being affected by flood waters. That is inaccurate.
Location
Whereas the Bagre Dam is situated some 70 km due north of Bawku, the Kompienga hydro-electric dam lies not removed from the japanese nook of the northern border of Togo with Burkina Faso.
Referring to the map of Ghana, the Bagre Dam is, subsequently, situated inside the White Volta River basin whereas the Kompienga dam lies within the northern reaches of the Oti River.
From this geographical outlay, extra water from the Kompienga dam is wholly contained inside the Oti River basin and so has no impression in any way on the scenario within the White Volta River system.
Movement route
Equally, the Bagre dam mendacity inside the White Volta River basin is the one dam which impacts downstream farming communities alongside the White Volta.
The surplus water from the Bagre Dam would in future, stream immediately into the reservoir of the proposed Pwalugu multi-purpose dam when it’s constructed.
From the above, the Black Volta River, which varieties our western border separating Higher West and Northern areas from Burkina Faso and La Cote d’Ivoire, is completely separated from the Bagre and Kompienga dams, watering the western components of the Higher West and Northern areas.
For the avoidance of doubt, the surplus water from the Bagre dam might solely impression a small variety of communities on the Black Volta when there’s a simultaneous and coincidental spilling of extra water from each the Bagre and Bui dams.
This might trigger the water ranges in each the Black and White Volta rivers to rise, and so on the confluence of the 2 rivers, at Mpaha within the Gonja Central District, resulting in the backing up of water, creating a lot increased than regular river water ranges to flood increased grounds.
The author is a Civil & Irrigation Engineer
E mail: robert.ok.b.austin@gmail.com