Abstract:
The Densu basin is a coastal river catchment in southern Ghana and a typical rural
community like all other rural settlements in Ghana. It is the only basin amongst 43
other basins of the country that supplies water to two regional capitals of Ghana,
namely, the capital city of Ghana, Accra and Eastern regional capital, Koforidua. The
qualities of these water resources vary naturally and widely depending on climate,
season, and the geology of the bedrock, as well as anthropogenic activities. The pri
mary aim of this research is to determine data requirements for efficient and cost-
effective development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to map and detect
the extent of the sources of the watersheds and how to protect the environment for
continuous supply of water. Among the Nine catchment areas, only one catchment
WSA_05 (Koforidua Township) was determined to have a very high risk of being
vulnerable and therefore required urgency to protect environment for continuous
supply of water. Four catchment areas WSA_02 (Weija Dam), WSA_03 (Aped
wa-Asafo), WSA_06 (Suhum) and WSA_09 (New Tafo) were determined to have a
high risk of being affected and therefore there was the need to protect the environ
ment for continuous supply of water. Ghana as a country will have to take a respon
sible step in protecting its water body and its environment to enable continuous and
sustainable supply of water to its citizens. This study therefore reveals the state of the
water users and how urgent it environment needs to be protected.
