HISTORY OF THE WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION

THE GENESIS

In the early 1990s, following the Economic Recovery Programme (1983-1993), the government initiated direct reforms in the water sector, specifically intended to improve efficiency in rural, urban, and irrigation water supply and attain environmental protection and conservation. The institutions and agencies that came out of these initial reforms (Community Water and Sanitation, Ghana Water Company Limited, and Ghana Irrigation Development Authority) dealt with single-purpose water use, serving sectoral interests. Besides, these water user agencies, including the Volta River Authority, also managed different aspects of the water sector. There was a lack of coordination in the water sector, which increasingly led to conflicts in mandates and functions of the various institutions. Weakness in data and information was also key, but not part of the initial reform. Hence, the reforms, by their sectoral nature and approach, could only improve the existing water sub-sectors, but could not achieve integration of water resources planning, development and management.

By 1994, it was clear and imperative to have a single identified body responsible for the coordination, control, management, and regulation of water resources in the country. Moreover, as an essential natural resource, water falls within the provisions of Article 269 of the Constitution, thereby justifying the establishment of a body to regulate, manage, and coordinate government policies related to them. The Water Resources Commission (WRC) was the body identified and established by Parliament to undertake this onerous duty.

ESTABLISHMENT

The WRC was established by an Act of Parliament, the WRC Act 522, 1996, passed by the first Parliament of the fourth republic and assented to by the President on 30^th December 1996. The Act stipulates that ownership and control of all water resources are vested in the President on behalf of the people and clearly defines the WRC as the overall responsible body for coordination, regulation and management of the nation’s water resources.

WRC is governed by a 15-member Commission, which represents a forum for the integration, cooperation and coordination of diverse interests and comprises the major stakeholders in the water sector. Members of the 1^st Commission were appointed on 21 May 1998 and inaugurated into office in November of the same year.

The Commission is serviced by a Secretariat, which started operating in early 1999 with about eight (8) staff.

EVOLUTION

The formative stage of WRC was carefully thought through and successfully pursued. At the beginning, WRC’s strategy was to establish an adequate and cost-effective organisation, establish good and effective working relations with all stakeholders in the water sector, and involve existing public institutions and the private sector, through outsourcing and contracting of specific tasks, to establish its tools and procedures.

Hence, to achieve this strategy and the overall mandate, WRC worked at the following eight (8) strategic implementation principles:

Adopt Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as an integrated, cross-sectoral, catchment area approach for managing and regulating water resources, including internationally shared waters.
Prioritise the tasks at hand, starting with the most important WRC responsibilities first.
Secure financial resources to enable WRC to undertake its tasks and ensure the sustainability of its activities.
Use existing institutional structures with relevant expertise, especially for water resources planning. This was to avoid duplicating institutional structures and capacity.
Pilot procedures, structures and activities using the most appropriate decentralized level of water management, i.e. at the basin level.
Pilot planning tools with the help of the research institutions based on appropriate Decision Support Systems.
Pursue water allocation as a main task, guided by the principles of IWRM.

Flexibly adjust procedures from practical lessons and experience, taking cognisance of prevailing imperatives, and adapting to the actual situation

The Commission thereafter in 2006 set out its vision of achieving ’sustainable water management by all for all’, and its mission ‘to regulate and manage the sustainable utilization of water resources and to coordinate related policies by combining our core competencies and hard work through effective participation, monitoring and awareness creation for socio-economic development of Ghana’.

Over time, the WRC has consciously followed through on its initial strategic goals (which are still relevant today) and the implementation principles. At the same time, it is seeking to realise its vision and achieve its mission. These efforts have seen WRC evolve from a young entity to its current appearance as a fully functioning organisation.

GROWTH AND EXPANSION

WRC has grown and expanded mainly through implementing the strategic principles of piloting procedures, structures and activities, and applying planning tools using the most appropriate decentralized level of water management, i.e. at the basin level.

The River Basin Board (RBB) has evolved and been defined as the most appropriate institutional governance framework. So far, eight (8) of such Boards serving as the main coordination and planning body have been systematically established with their respective functioning secretariats. The established RBBs include Densu Basin – 2004, White Volta Basin – 2005, Ankobra Basin – 2008, Dayi Basin – 2010, Pra Basin – 2011, Tano Basin – 2012, Black Volta Basin – 2016, and Lower Volta Basin – 2022. The Dayi RBB operates administratively through a collaborative effort with the Ghana Water Limited office in the basin.

The expansion and governance process is being extended to the sub-basin (started with the White Volta and Black Volta basins) with the creation of Local Water Committees to engage local communities in decision-making.

The expansion and growth have also been witnessed in the engagement of staff with the expertise to carry out WRC’s mandate at the international, national and basin levels. Professionals in water resources engineering/planning, hydrology and hydrogeology, economics, water quality, ecology, legal, information technology, river basin management, and public relations/ education, among others, have been engaged. They are supported by high and middle-level staff in accounting, procurement, administration, and library services.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS

WRC’s major achievements are recorded under the creation of an enabling environment, the development and application of technical and management tools, international engagement and recognition, and initiatives with external support.

It should be mentioned that the establishment of WRC as the umbrella institution to coordinate and facilitate the efficient governance of water resources in the country is itself an achievement.

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

WRC has created the enabling environment to operate through the adoption of relevant regulations and policies. The regulations include the Water Use Regulations Legislative Instrument (LI) 1692 of 2001 for the administration of water use, Drillers’ Licence and Groundwater Development Regulations LI 1827 of 2006 to license drilling companies and ensure the safe development of groundwater resources, and the Dam Safety Regulations LI 2236 related to dam design, construction, operations, maintenance, and decommissioning to ensure uniform and adequate safety for all dams. The policies are the Riparian Buffer Zone Policy (2013) and the IWRM component of the initial and revised National Water Policy (2007 and 2024).

TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT TOOLS

WRC has produced valuable technical and management tools not only for its use but also to benefit other collaborative institutions and stakeholders.

River Basin IWRM Plans for eight (8) basins
National Water Quality Index for monitoring water quality status nationwide (2005)
Guidelines for Raw Water Spillage and Dewatering (2018)
National Rainwater Harvesting Strategy (2011)
Gender and Water Resources Management Strategy (2011)
Groundwater Management Strategy (2011)
National Water Sector Strategic Development Plan (WSSDP) for Implementation of Investment Programme: 2012 to 2025.
The Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) for the White Volta and Oti basins provide reliable information for disaster risk reduction response (2016)

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

WRC is the National Focal Institution and has gained recognition for initiating and facilitating dialogue(s) on transboundary cooperation. Some achievements include:

Setting up the Ghana-Burkina Faso Joint Technical Committee on IWRM (JTC IWRM) to advise the Ministers in charge of water of the two countries (2005).
Led the country process in establishing the Volta Basin Authority (2009) and its functioning.
Facilitated the entire process of Ghana’s ratification of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992 Water Convention), and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (1997 Watercourses Convention). In September 2020, Ghana became a Party to the 1992 Water Convention, served by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in September 2020.
Facilitated the establishment of improved communication channels for information exchange regarding spillage from the Bagre dam in Burkina Faso.
Training and sharing experience with public institution practitioners in water resources governance – Sierra Leone and Nigeria (2017-2019).

EXTERNAL SUPPORT INITIATIVE

Key achievements in initiatives that have been externally supported are:

The CIDA-supported Hydrogeological Assessment Program (HAP) (2006-2011) improved groundwater information in the northern regions. One key outcome is the impact of deeper drilling depths as a sector approach to improving drilling success rates and increasing yields.
The World Bank supported Disaster Risk Management Projects (2012-2013 and 2015-2016) strengthened flood management in the White Volta Basin. Flood risk maps are available; flood forecasting and early warning systems for the White Volta and Oti basins are operational, and the capacities of national agencies responsible for flood management have improved.
Urban Catchment Management Component of the UN-Habitat supported Water for African Cities Phase II project (2006-2008) contributed significantly to managing the catchment around the Weija area to reduce land degradation and pollution of the Weija Reservoir.
The Danida-supported Water and Sanitation Sector Programme Support (WSSPS II) (2004-2008) led WRC to establish its water use monitoring and regulatory frameworks. It enabled WRC to support the Water Resources Information Systems institutions (WRIS) to enhance water resources data and information services to facilitate water use permitting analyses and water resource assessments.
Development of a National and River Basin IWRM Plans (2008-2011), supported by the European Union, resulted in the development and operation of decentralised IWRM initiatives in the Pra and Tano basins, and the development of the National IWRM Plan.

NATIONAL AWARD

Ultimately, WRC was awarded the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) “Most Efficient Regulator” in Ghana for 2020 at the maiden edition of the Public Enterprise League Table (PELT). The award was in recognition of WRC as the top-performing state-owned enterprise among regulatory institutions.

CHALLENGES AND ADAPTATIONS

WRC has had its share of challenges and difficult moments. Some of the challenges persist, while others have been overcome.

Laws and regulations have been adopted and are being administered. However, the key challenge remains the weak enforcement and compliance with such
Financing WRC activities has been mainly from three sources: Government, Internally Generated Funds, and external support, which has dwindled over time. In reality, financing plans and programs at all levels, including transboundary commitments, remain a major obstacle.
Maintaining a continuous education campaign and public awareness promotion of water resources management remains a challenge. This has contributed to the apparent low visibility of WRC to the public and decision makers.
Inadequate human capacity has constrained WRC at the national and basin levels.
Lastly, infrastructure for data and information and the management of evidence-based knowledge systems for decision making is needed.

WRC adopted coping strategies such as contracting professionals and outsourcing technical tasks without staff to perform to address the inadequate capacity/staff challenge. Close collaboration with security agencies, especially the Police Service, was also strategically adopted to tackle the weak enforcement and compliance challenge.

Important lessons have also been learned. Coordinating a mix of institutions in managing the resources sometimes had little or no cooperation, especially from institutions with previous mandates that should be ceded to WRC. Therefore, it needs to be approached with patience, zeal and tact. Again, creating the enabling environment, establishing appropriate institutional structures and developing relevant management tools for IWRM requires a longer time frame than originally envisaged.

LEADERSHIP: HIGHLIGHTS OF PAST EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES

Section 9 of the WRC Act 522 enjoins the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Commission given in consultation with the Public Services Commission, to appoint an officer to be designated the Executive Secretary to the Commission. The Executive Secretary shall be responsible for the day-to-day management and administration of the Commission.

This provision has been followed essentially and contributed to the stable leadership of WRC. The appointed past Executive Secretaries who steered the WRC from its start are the following:

Daniel Norkwei Adom (June 1998 – May 2004)
Charles Augustus Biney (May 2004 – September 2006)
Ben Yaw Ampomah (October 2006 – April 2022)
Dorcas Adwoa Paintsil (May 2022 – September 2023)

These past WRC leaders were developed from within, which has largely ensured employee retention, a more engaged staff, and the development of a strong WRC culture that has fostered its growth.

LEGACY AND FUTURE OUTLOOK

The Commission could be looked at as a well-built regulatory and management institution, sufficient in policies, laws, and plans for water management to influence decision-making, and has a well-established decentralized institutional structure which allows for participation in the management of water resources.

The WRC Corporate Strategic Plan (2024-2028) provides sufficient indications of its future outlook. It looks at a consciously defined and designed future of a visible and well-resourced WRC operating in an environment of trust and inclusiveness, which is effective and efficient in regulating and managing the country’s water resources, and coordinating related policies. Effective in the sense of achieving well-defined and sustainable internal policy objectives and targets, efficient in maximizing the benefits of a viable WRC while minimizing costs, and building trust and ensuring inclusiveness based on systems that are transparent and responsive to the expectations of all stakeholders.