Dam!

Yesterday, we began our next trip to the Volta region. Volta is the name of the largest and most important river in Ghana. In the 1960’s, Akosombo Dam was constructed, forming Lake Volta, what is still the largest reservoir in the world by surfaced area. We drove along where the hills meet the coastal plain which was interesting as we had not yet been to a terribly hilly region. Driving closer to the hotel, we caught glimpses of the Volta River which is dammed to form a smaller lake some distance below the Aksombo Dam. Driving up the river valley and surrounded by taller, pointy hills on either side, I was reminded to the upper Hudson valley that I explored this past summer.

Rounding a bend in the road, the dam came into view. The enormous mass of rock and clay stretched across the entire valley. We drove to the lip of the dam where to hydro station is to begin a brief guided tour. En route, we were greeted by various posters and billboards extolling the benefits of the Volta River Authority, the state owned company that operates the dam. Looking down from the lip, there are six turbines generating 1.2 gigawatts of electricity which is enough to power all of Ghana, and allow some for export to Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Cote d’Ivoire. Ghana has an interesting agreement with Cote d’Ivoire as they do not charge for power in the conventional sense. Rather, Ghana uses some of their power when as few as two of the six turbines are in operation due to low water and provides the same when Cote d’Ivoire has the same problem. Ghana relied upon this during the 2007 water crisis. Close agreements may explain Ghana’s reluctance to be confrontational with President Gbagbo over the election.

The Volta also provides water for everyone in the south as the water is treated and piped to Accra. While the water looked clean and was relatively clear, we are unable to drink it directly out of the tap. Therefore, most Ghanaians buy water sachets which are baggies of treated Volta water. Home filtration is becoming increasingly popular and I purchased a water filter that be-rids the tap water of the heavy metals and other unmentionables. I have yet to get sick from Volta water. Unlike the sachets, there is no taste of iodine, plastic and other chemicals.

In addition to providing hydro power, the lake also serves as a transportation artery to the north as it stretches 500km in that direction. While important, it is not essential as there are few major communities on the shores of the lake and subsequently there is not a lot of boat/barge traffic. We drove by the Akosombo Port which is small although there were several huge fuel barges and a tugboat pushing one into a quay. Commercial lake traffic is also small as it has only been an option for locals in the past 40 years or so, unlike say the Congo River which has served as a trade route since ancient times and is still important due to the sorry state of road and rail infrastructure in D.R. Congo. Tomorrow, we are riding the M/V Dodi Princess, operated by the Volta River Authority, to take a four hour cruise to a rock in the middle of the lake.

The dam was the pet project of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, as it was constructed during his regime. He also built a presidential retreat on a hill overlooking the construction sight. Looking across from the lip of the dam, it is perched lonely on top of a steep hill which makes It is only accessible via helicopter