Towards Integrated Urban Water Management in the Greater Accra
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Towards integrated urban water management in the Great the in management water urban integrated Towards Towards integrated urban water management in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Current status and strategic directions for the future Accra, the administrative and economic capital of Ghana, just like cities all over the world, is facing ever increasing difficulties in efficiently managing water resources and providing water and sanitation services to its citizens. Meeting these challenges and adopting a more integrated approach to urban water management requires a firm understanding of the current situation. This book presents a situational analysis of Accra, bringing together a wealth of information and data from different sources, including stakeholder dialogues, in the areas of water service provision, excreta and waste water management, storm water management and planning and coordinating. It is presented and analysed through the Resources, Infrastructure, Demand and Access Framework (RIDA) which provides a thorough overview of the current situation and challenges that the city is facing. This book is the consolidation of a four-year strategic planning process, undertaken by the Accra Learning Alliance, which brings together policy makers, service providers, researchers and civil society. In addition to analysis, it presents a vision for water management in the city of Accra and strategic directions towards achieving the vision as defined by the Accra Learning Alliance. The SWITCH project facilitated this process, aiming to bring about a paradigm shift in urban water management away from existing ad hoc solutions to urban water management and towards a more coherent and integrated approach. Published by Resource Centre Network Ghana. er Accra Metropolitan Area Area Metropolitan Accra er ISBN:978-9988-1-4828-7 9 789988 148287 Marieke Adank, Bertha Darteh, Patrick Moriarty Henrietta Osei - Tutu, David Assan, Daan van Rooijen RCN Ghana Resource Centre Network Towards integrated urban water management in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Current status and strategic directions for the future Marieke Adank, Bertha Darteh, Patrick Moriarty, Henrietta Osei-Tutu, David Assan, Daan van Rooijen SWITCH / RCN Ghana 2011 i ©Copyright, 2011 Published by: Resource Centre Network, Ghana P.O. Box CT 6135 Cantonments, Accra Tel: +233 302 769530 /769552 Email: [email protected] Editing: Cheryl White Cover design &printing: Combert Impressions Tel: +233 302 240557 /253044 /0243 690048 ISBN: 978 Ͳ9988 Ͳ1Ͳ4828 Ͳ7 Adank, M., Darteh, B., Moriarty, P., Osei ͲTutu, H., Assan, D., Rooijen, D. van (2011) Towards integrated urban water management in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Current status and strategic directions for the future ,SWITCH/RCN Ghana, Accra, Ghana Key words: Urban, integrated urban water management, Accra, water supply, sanitation, storm water drainage, planning, governance You can download afree copy of this publication from: http://switchurbanwater.lboro.ac.uk/outputs Executive summary Accra is the administrative, political and commercial capital of Ghana. Providing water and sanitation services to all in a fast growing, largely unplanned city like Accra and managing water in an efficient and integrated way, is a huge challenge. This document presents the results of the contribution of the SWITCH project to the development of a strategic plan for integrated urban water management for the city of Accra to address this challenge. This takes the form of the definition of a vision for water management and water related services in the city of Accra of the future, a comprehensive situational analysis, and strategic directions for going from the current situation towards the vision. The city of Accra and its population The city of Accra, the capital city of Ghana, used to be synonymous with the Accra Metropolitan Area. However, in the last two decades, the city has sprawled beyond these boundaries. Today, the city of Accra covers an area generally referred to as the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), consisting of the Accra Metropolitan Area (AMA); the Ledzekuku-Krowor Municipal Area; the Tema Metropolitan Area (TMA) ; the Ashaiman Municipal Area; the Adenta Municipal Area; the Ga East Municipal Area; the Ga West Municipal Area; and the Ga South Municipal Area. In the year 2000, the population of this area was 2.7 million inhabitants. Taking into consideration different growth rate scenarios, the 2007 population of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) can be estimated to be between 3.4 million and 3.9 million people. Considering these different growth scenarios, estimates for the 2030 population of GAMA range between 7.3 million and 16.3 million inhabitants. Infrastructural development within the city has to a large extent taken place in an unplanned way. Within Accra, a number of different types of social-economic zones can be identified. High density indigenous areas are mainly located along the coast, while high density low class areas are more scattered over the Greater Accra Metropolitan area. Middle density indigenous areas can mainly be found in the older residential areas within the AMA area, middle density middle class areas in central Accra and in the Ga and TMA areas and low density high class areas can mainly be found in eastern AMA, but also in some Ga areas and TMA. The majority of the population (54 percent) of GAMA lives in compound houses and many households rent (46 percent) rather than own the house they live in. Vision and scenarios Accra City Stakeholders, brought together in the Accra Learning Alliance, have defined an integrated urban water management vision for Accra 2030 as follows: There will be 100 percent access to uninterrupted water supply Water quality will meet Ghana Standard Board criteria Non revenue water (due to physical and commercial losses) in the GWCL system will amount to 20-25 percent There will be improved productive uses of water for livelihoods (micro enterprises and agriculture) 80 percent of Accra’s cit izens will practise good sanitation behaviours and willingly pay for waste management. This will have led to a 70 percent reduction in water and sanitation diseases At least 80 percent of Accra’s citizens will have access to an acceptable level of sanitati on facilities iii Integrated solid waste management (collection, transport treatment and final disposal) of solid waste in a sustainable way. Collection of solid waste will be 90 percent. Accra will separate its solid waste Accra will be a cleaner city with good drainage systems To aid in the identification of robust strategies to achieve this vision, a number of narrative scenarios of possible future trends in water resource availability, population growth and demand and governance have been developed. The scenarios have been defined as follows: Worst case scenario Accra in 2030 is a depressing, chaotic and crisis prone town, with a population of more than four times its 2007 level and a water demands almost six times higher than the actual capacity of the water supply system in 2007. Lack of effective political leadership, coupled with poor economic performance and severe poverty mean a lack of ability to tackle deep-seated problems of under-investment and poor management of water supply and sanitation infrastructure. These problems are made worse by lack of raw water resources due to increased competition and a reduction in river flows. Medium case scenario: Accra has grown to almost three times the population in 2007, fueled in part by strong economic performance based on oil wealth. This has led to sharply increased demand for water. This demand is augmented by the rapid growth in the tourism and manufacturing sectors. However, while rapid, this growth has not been chaotic – due in large part to the marked improvement in political culture and related enforcement of planning laws and other regulations. Climate change (and competition for water from outside the city) has led to a modest reduction in overall water resource availability, which together with the strong growth in demand (four times what it was in 2007), presents major challenges. These are compounded by lack of access to finances and land for new infrastructure. However, improved management and capacities within both the utility (GWCL) and local government, new technological options and engaged and empowered citizens inspire confidence that solutions will be found. Best case scenario: Accra in 2030 is in many ways a blessed city. Contrary to the fears of many in the early 2000s, the city’s population growth, while large, has been manageable (2.2 times 2007 levels). The frequent power shortages of the early 2000s are only a distant memory. A sharply improved political culture has led to improvements in enforcement of planning laws, whilst policy is seen as progressive. This, coupled with strong economic growth (partly driven by increasing oil wealth), has led to marked improvements in citizens willingness and ability to pay for water and sanitation services. Water demands have increased because of steady population growth and economic growth (three times as high as the capacity of the system in 2007). Challenges do exist. Overall water resource availability is reduced. It continues to be difficult to source the necessary financing to upgrad e the city’s infrastructure and access to land for waste processing facilities and new networks is a constant problem. Nevertheless, there is guarded optimism about the ability of the city to deal with these problems. Water resources Water resources in and for Accra include rainwater (average annual rainfall is about 756 mm with the main rainy period from March to July and a smaller rainy period from September to October), ground iv water resources (with an estimated total recharge of about 0.038 km 3/year) and surface water resources. The population of Accra is to a large extent dependent on surface water for its water supply, which is imported from sources that lie outside the boundaries of the city: the Weija Lake on the Densu River and the Volta Lake on the Volta River, further afield from the city.