The Owabi and Barekese dams that serve as the major source of treated water to millions of residents in Kumasi, the Ashanti region is fast losing water as water levels have drastically dropped.
Officials of the Ghana Water Company who led the Ashanti regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah on a tour of the facilities following recent media reports disclosed that the Owabi dam which used to be 21 feet deep is now only 6 feet deep in what has sent fears through the water company that Kumasi may soon be hitting crisis levels in water supply.
At full capacity, the two dams supply a total of 84 million gallons a day. They can hardly supply a third of that figure currently. The fate of the dams have been attributed to increasing human activities including encroachments close to the main dams, illegal mining activities and pollution from refuse and plastic.
Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah who was at the facility with the DCE for Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Rebecca Yeboah is alarmed about the briefings and has tasked his officers to act to reverse the looming water crisis. He wants a buffer around the dams declared as security zones to discourage human activities close to the water sources.