Ghana

Dams impose a serious threat as dam breakage can cause serious damage to life, property and environment. In Ghana there is no single authority responsible for the safety of dams. The need for a centralised body set up to ensure that these items are in place for all dams, is therefore apparent. NVE was engaged by NORAD (2008) to assist the WRC formulate a Project Document for the establishment of an authority responsible for dam safety. By the end of the Project - after 3 years - it is expected that an independent NDSU has been established in Ghana. NVE’s inputs have been covered by special funding from NORAD.

There are 3 major owners of dams of significant height and/or reservoir volume in Ghana, namely: the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Ghana Water Company Ltd.(GWCL), and the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA). These stakeholders own some 30 dams. In addition, there are also about 1,500 smaller dams built for local water supply or irrigation purposes. These are owned by the local authorities.

Activities and Outputs:
The NDSU Inception Workshop was organized in November 2009 and was able to agree on the establishment of the DSWG; its Terms of Reference were drawn up and agreed upon. Hence the group was officially established with the mandate to:

• Function as the steering committee for the establishment of the NDSU.
• Develop and approve Terms of Reference for technical committees.
• Make recommendations on findings of technical committees.

Special Norad funding was used in 2009 for limited capacity building and attendance in international courses in support of the preliminary stage of the Project. This included two WRC staff attending the Dam Safety Course arranged by the International Centre for Hydropower (ICH) in Trondheim, Norway, September 2009.

The Project Document contains detailed activities and planned outputs required to fully implement the NDSU. The progress on these will be reported on in due course.

Issues and Challenges:
Some activities were started in 2009 with special approval from Norad while awaiting the final Project Document approval. Human resources capacity within WRC is in need of strengthening through training and engagement of new experienced staff members, particularly in the specialized field of dam safety, including operation of the associated data management system. As indicated above, this issue has already been addressed on a limited scale.

Results/Outcome:
There has been a strong commitment from all stakeholders in Ghana towards the program for establishment of the NDSU. This is evidenced by the following actions already taken:

• Establishment of the DSWG and Technical Committees (Dam, Legal and Finance).
• Technical Committees’ Terms of Reference approved. 
• First meeting of the DSWG held, December 2009, Accra.