General News of Wednesday, 5 January 2022<\/p>\n
Source: <\/strong>GNA<\/p>\n 2022-01-05<\/p>\n \u00a0 The weeds entangle the\u00a0turbines, making it difficult for them to operate at optimum level. Water hyacinth was\u00a0first noted at a residence in Tema in 1984\u00a0and spread to Accra through the activities of horticulturists and flower vendors.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was subsequently found in the Volta and Tano Lake.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" General News of Wednesday, 5 January 2022 Source: GNA 2022-01-05 Water hyacinths take over lake \u00a0
The Volta River Authority (VRA) between 2019 and 2021 incurred a revenue loss of GHc 4.1million due to aquatic weeds, particularly, water hyacinth. The weeds entangle the\u00a0turbines, making it difficult for them to operate at optimum level.
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Water hyacinths take over lake<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe Volta River Authority (VRA) between 2019 and 2021 incurred a revenue loss of GHc 4.1million due to aquatic weeds, particularly, water hyacinth.<\/p>\n
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\nWater hyacinth, also known as the ‘Florida\u00a0devil’,\u00a0and locally as, ‘Poison flowers\u2019\u00a0one of the world’s worst aquatic weeds, is native to the\u00a0Amazon basin.
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\nIt\u00a0grows on surfaces of rivers, lakes, and other water bodies, forming very thick layers and depriving other living organisms under the mats of sunlight.
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\nDr. Michael Dade, the Manager of Public Health of the Authority\u00a0at the Kpong Water Head Pond of the VRA, told the GNA, that the extent of the invasion of the aquatic weed on the\u00a0Volta Lake\u00a0could\u00a0be likened to 100, the size of the Accra Sports stadium.
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\nHe\u00a0explained\u00a0that often when the mat of weeds broke off and got into the turbines,\u00a0the weeds entangled the turbines, and disrupted operations by reducing the efficiency of the turbines.
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\nIn extreme cases, he said\u00a0they were forced to shut down the affected generating plant unit at the Akosombo Hydro Dam.
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\nDr.\u00a0Dade\u00a0mentioned that the beautiful but very invasive plant also caused\u00a0sedimentation\u00a0and\u00a0doubled water loss of the Dam\u2019s reservoir.
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\n\u201cThe presence of\u00a0the water hyacinth causes\u00a0more evapotranspiration of the water reservoir, which is essentially needed to keep the hydro-electric power generating plants in operation,\u201d he said.
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\n\u201cAlready the impact of climate change observed in Ghana over the years has made it impossible and difficult to predict the\u00a0volume\u00a0and pattern of rainfall; it is erratic in nature.\u201d\u00a0
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\nThe Authority, over the years,\u00a0he said\u00a0had\u00a0worked with the Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana Maritime Authority, and other actors to adopt an integrated approach towards managing the weeds, but it had not been successful.
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\nDr.\u00a0Dade\u00a0noted that VRA was working on a project with a private firm to explore the option of harvesting the plant and converting it into a viable commodity.\u00a0
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\nIn recent times, researchers and development workers are harvesting\u00a0water hyacinth to\u00a0develop\u00a0products, including animal feed, artifacts, and compost fertilizer.<\/p>\n