Abstract:
Abstract Ghana is endowed with surface and ground
water resources. These resources prior to the colonial era
were managed by traditional societies through various
conventional methods embedded in their cosmovision.
However during the colonial and postcolonial regimes,
in response to climate change, economic globalization,
and population pressure, there has been a conscious shift
from customary water management systems towards
paradigms cast in the contemporary mould (legislation,
policies, and institutions). These modern approaches
have been shown over the years to be insufficient in
ensuring water sustainability. This insufficiency manifests
itself in the increasing water scarcity through
anthropogenic-inducedwater resources degradation and
severe climatic variability. Using content analysis, this
paper reviews this transition, first to fully understand the
intricacies of the evolution and second to draw lessons
for better water resources management in Ghana. This
paper contends that although Ghana’s water related
institutions, laws, and policies are undergoing significant
reforms, implementation and practice remains
embedded in weak ecological modernization (EM).
Institutionalizing a narrow conception of EM will only
perpetuate ‘organized irresponsibility’ and permit the
continued production of ecological problems, leaving
open the question of whether modernization is compatible
with ecological sustainability. Though customary
water management approaches are not entirely
devoid of limitations, simply branding them as obsolete
may obviate an important vehicle for water sustainability.
In the spirit paradigmatic complementarity,
ecosystem-friendly indigenous approaches must be
integrated with contemporary management systems
for the long term goal of sustainability.
