The Director of Policy, Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Water Resources Commission (WRC), Dr Mawuli Lumor, has warned that Ghana’s renewable water supply per person is declining at an alarming rate, raising the possibility of severe water restrictions in the near future if urgent measures are not taken.

Speaking on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, Dr Lumor explained how the Commission computes the country’s water stress levels.

“We compute our report annually, and basically the computation is quite simple. Ghana is estimated to have around 53 billion cubic meters of renewable water per annum. Then we look at our population,” he said.

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According to him, the calculation involves dividing the total renewable water by the population.

However, while the water volume remains constant, the population keeps growing, reducing the per capita share.

“In 2016, Ghana’s renewable water per person was around 1,900 cubic meters. Today, it has dropped to about 1,500 a significant decline in less than a decade,” he indicated.

He further stressed that this figure includes polluted water, which means the actual usable supply per person is even lower.

“So, by nature, we are already getting less water, and our activities are polluting what we’re already getting. That means we are moving towards dangerous grounds,” he cautioned.

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Dr Lumor warned that if the trend continues, Ghana may have to follow the example of countries such as South Africa, where governments imposed strict limits on water use in some areas due to critical shortages.

“Possibly, as happened in South Africa about two or three years ago, government will have to step in and limit the use of water for particular locations considering the stress levels,” he stated.

MRA/VPO

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