Emergency dredging operations to mitigate flooding of the White Volta River

The White Volta is the most prosperous river in Ghana and its banks are buzzing with activity. The river springs in Burkina Faso and runs through Ghana to the Gulf of Guinea. The White Volta is vital for drinking water, commercial agriculture, industry and nature. The tropical rainy season in Ghana has become warmer and more humid the last decades. The increase in rainfall, soil erosion and sedimentation cause higher river levels and dramatic flooding of the lower villages downstream. The floods regularly result in the loss of many lives, thousands of homes, property and valuable agricultural land. The lives of humans and animals are seriously are under threat.

To deal with the ongoing flooding of the White Volta, the Ghanaian government is (among other projects) working on the “Emergency Flood Mitigation Project”. The shallows and sandbanks in the White Volta are dredged to create more water storage in the river. In addition, river beds are widened and reinforced with rock or earthen dams. Walhout Civil has been contracted by a dredging contractor for the consultancy and organization of dredging operations in northeastern Ghana, in the border region of Burkina Faso and Togo. The first 40 kilometers of the project were started in 2019.