Encroachment Hampers Odaw Basin Detention Ponds Project

Efforts to construct detention ponds, a major intervention in Accra’s flood control project, upstream of the Odaw Basin are being hindered by the encroachment of suitable lands by private individuals.

A detention pond is a large depression in an urban landscape designed to manage stormwater runoff by storing it and releasing it gradually until it is completely drained.

Despite identifying six sites in wetlands and watersheds, mostly located in areas such as Abokobi and Damfa in the Ga East Municipal Assembly in the Greater Accra Region, the government has been unable to acquire these lands.

Dr. Kwadwo Ohene Sarfoh, the Coordinator of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project, revealed to the Daily Graphic that these crucial ecological resources had been taken over by traditional authorities and private developers.

The GARID project is a five-year initiative rolled out by the government with funding from the World Bank as part of the Greater Accra Climate Risk Mitigation Strategy to build resilience against the city’s perennial flooding. It was conceived following the flood disaster in Accra on June 3, 2015, which claimed almost 200 lives.

One of the strategies of the GARID project is to increase storage facilities through the establishment of detention ponds, which would reduce the volume of water during a downpour. However, due to the high cost involved in acquiring the identified sites, the project team has had to resort to public lands in the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) area for feasible detention pond construction.

The encroachment on these public lands has forced the team to constantly change designs to limit the impact of development on the lands. Dr. Sarfoh emphasized the necessity of creating detention ponds along the Odaw River Basin to retain runoff water and reduce volumes to prevent flooding in the city.

He stressed the importance of addressing encroachment activities on watersheds and wetlands in upstream communities, as they threaten the sustainable management of the drainage system in Accra. Dr. Sarfoh expressed optimism that the GARID project would deliver on its mandate of improving the drainage system in the Odaw basin, but noted that achieving this goal would require collective efforts from all stakeholders.