Lake Volta, the largest artificial

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the

Akosombo Dam The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River in southeastern Ghana in the Akosombo gorge and part of the Volta River Authority. The construction of the dam flooded part of the Volta River Basin and led ...

which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and has a surface area of . It extends from Akosombo in the south to the northern part of the country.

Geography

Lake Volta lies along the

Prime meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great c ...

, and just six degrees of latitude north of the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

. The lake's northernmost point is close to the town of

Yapei Yapei or Yape is a small town in the Central Gonja District, a district in the Savannah Region of north Ghana. Geography The White Volta passes through the town; making it an important terminus point. There are few rapids on the eastern end of ...

, and its southernmost extreme is at the

, downstream from Yapei. Akosombo Dam holds back both the White Volta River and the

Black Volta River The Black Volta or Mouhoun is a river that flows through Burkina Faso for approximately 1,352 km (840 mi) to the White Volta in Dagbon, Ghana, the upper end of Lake Volta. The source of the Black Volta is in the Cascades Region of Burki ...

, which formerly converged where the middle of the reservoir now lies, to form the single

Volta River The Volta River is the main river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. In ...

. The present Volta River flows from the outlets of the dam's powerhouse and

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure th ...

s to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in southern Ghana. The main islands within the lake are Dodi, Dwarf, and Kporve. Digya National Park lies on part of the lake's western shore.

History

The lake was formed by the

, which was originally conceived by the geologist

Albert Ernest Kitson Sir Albert Ernest Kitson, (21 March 1868 – 8 March 1937) was a British-Australian geologist, naturalist, and winner of the Lyell Medal in 1927. Early life Kitson was born in North Street, Audenshaw, Cheshire, England, the son of John ...

in 1915, but whose construction only began in 1961 with completion in 1965. Because of the formation of Lake Volta, about 78,000 people were relocated to new towns and villages, along with 200,000 animals belonging to them. About 120 buildings were destroyed, not including small residences, and over of territory were flooded.

Economy

The

produces 912 MW of electricity for the country, as well as for export to

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

, and other nearby countries to earn foreign exchange. Lake Volta is also important for transportation, providing a waterway for both

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

and

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

watercraft. Since the huge lake lies in a tropical area, the water remains warm year-round naturally. Given good

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, Lake Volta is the location of a vast population of fish and large fisheries. The lake also attracts

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, and tourist cruises visit the island of Dodi. Recent developments include a large-scale enterprise to harvest submerged timber from the flooded forests under Lake Volta. This project harvests high-value tropical

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

without requiring additional logging or destruction of existing forest and, according to Wayne Dunn, "could generate the largest source of environmentally sustainable natural tropical hardwood in the world." The Ghanaian-owned company Underwater Forest Resources has committed itself to making this lumber available in the

global market In economics, a market is a composition of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations or infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering ...

, while Flooring Solutions Ghana have become the suppliers of

hardwood floor Wood flooring is any product manufactured from timber that is designed for use as flooring, either structural or aesthetic. Wood is a common choice as a flooring material and can come in various styles, colors, cuts, and species. Bamboo flooring ...

s, using the rare wood from the Lake. In addition to generating foreign currency for the region and reducing the dependence of locals on fishing as a primary economic activity, the removal of submerged trees is improving navigation on the lake and increasing safety. An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 children work in the fishing industry on Lake Volta. The nature of their employment has been described as

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

and by the

CNN Freedom Project The CNN Freedom Project is a year-long humanitarian news media campaign launched by CNN and CNN International in 2011 to "end modern-day slavery" and related illegal practices, including human trafficking. It was started on the initiative of CNN ...

. This has been described as sensationalism by

Betty Mensah Betty Nana Efua Krosbi (also spelled Crosby and Krosby) Mensah, (born August 29, 1980) is a Ghanaian politician and the Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North constituency in the Eastern region of Ghana. She is a member of the National D ...

and the academic Samuel Okyere since many of the children and youth whose wages are given upfront to their parents grow up to become self-sufficient fishermen in adulthood who in turn hire children themselves and could therefore also be characterized as

apprentices Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

. They conclude, that many children may suffer under exploitative work but are not enslaved.

Photos

File:Ferry Lake Volta.jpg, A ferry on Lake Volta File:Lake Volta Ghana.jpg, Photograph of Lake Volta File:Akosombo Port Signage.jpg, Akosombo Port's signage File:Volta-lake-ghosttree.jpg, Trees in Lake Volta File:Dodi Island (Dodi Princess) Dock − Lake Volta.jpg, Dock of

Dodi Island Dodi Island is an island in Ghana, located off the shore of Lake Volta. It is a tourist destination and a land place for the cruise ship, Dodi Princess. Gallery File:Dodi Island and Rocky Shore − Lake Volta.jpg, Rocky Shores of Dodi Isla ...

with

Dodi Princess ''Dodi Princess'' was a cruise boat on Lake Volta in South Ghana. It was owned by the Volta River Authority and under the management of Volta Hotels. It was the only cruise ship in Ghana. It was built as a cargo ship and later converted into a pas ...

Lake Volta 06.jpg

References

External links