Assessing sustainable water management in a resource-scarce environment (Ghana, West Africa) via the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Abstract

Fresh water is indisputably a vital resource in ecosystems and its scarcity threatens the economy and society. Due to climate change, economic growth and unsustainable water management, water systems have become depleted and very contaminated worldwide. The scarcity and ecological degradation of water resources have threatened the sustainability of human life, socio-economic development and ecosystem services. The key element in an efficient management is the dynamic assessment of the status of water resources. Thus, this work developed a comprehensive evaluation indicator system based on the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework, combined with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP).

The study offers an applied-friendly way of assessing sustainable water management in a resource-scarce environment through a stakeholder engagement approach. This facilitates assessing and reporting the state of water resources in a selected watershed in Ghana. The analysis highlights the components of climate regime and mining activities to demonstrate the greater threats to the water systems of the region. The results clearly illustrate that strengthening stakeholders’ involvement, improvement of infrastructure and implementation of the existing policies are among the higher-ranked responses that would guarantee the sustainability of water resources in the region. Furthermore, the research provides detailed information on human activities and their impacts on water systems in a quick and easy way for local stakeholders and policymakers, so as to support sustainable water management. The overall approach can be easily implemented and expanded in several water management cases.