Galamsey-Polluted Rivers May Take 100 Years to Recover, Degraded Lands 300 Years – UCC Professor

A civil engineering professor warns that even if illegal mining stopped today, the ecological damage to Ghana's water bodies and farmlands would outlast generations, as government scales up enforcement with a GH¢200 million budget allocation.

PRASO, Central Region, Nov. 11 — Rivers polluted by illegal mining could take up to 100 years to regain their natural purity, while chemically degraded lands may require as long as 300 years to recover, a University of Cape Coast academic has warned.

Professor Albert Ebo Duncan of the UCC Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering said empirical research evidence indicates that heavy metals and toxic processing chemicals introduced into water bodies and soils break down extremely slowly, making natural recovery a multi-generational process .

"Even if galamsey stops today, contaminated water may take up to 100 years to return to a safe, clean state, while chemically degraded farmlands could remain unsuitable for full ecological and agricultural recovery for roughly 300 years," Duncan said .

He was speaking at an anti-galamsey public education forum at Praso in the Twifo Atti-Morkwa District of the Central Region, attended by schoolchildren, small-scale miners and journalists. The event formed part of a two-month house-to-house sensitisation campaign organised by the UCC department with support from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, deploying 16 trained young environmental advocates alongside teachers to educate communities on the long-term effects of illegal mining .

The Chemistry of Contamination

Duncan explained that although clean-up and treatment efforts could begin immediately, the natural processes required to remove pollutants from water and break down toxic chemicals in soil were extremely slow. Illegal mining has introduced heavy metals including mercury and arsenic, along with processing chemicals such as cyanide, into Ghana's rivers and soils at levels that natural recovery alone cannot quickly reverse .

The contamination is measurable and severe. Research cited by the Ghana News Agency shows mercury levels in the Ankobra River reaching up to 0.01 mg/L — ten times Ghana's national limit of 0.001 mg/L — while turbidity in the Pra Basin has reached as high as 28,737 NTU, with most sites exceeding World Health Organization limits by more than 24 times. Lead levels at Praso hit 0.231 mg/L, 23 times the WHO guideline .

Nationwide, approximately 60 per cent of Ghana's freshwater sources face significant degradation, according to the Water Resources Commission .

Government Response

The warning comes as the government intensifies its enforcement against illegal mining. President John Dramani Mahama has announced that GH¢200 million has been allocated in the 2027 Budget to support the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and the Blue Water Guards .

NAIMOS, established in June 2025 as a central coordinating body, has conducted 122 operations between July 2025 and March 2026, leading to 237 arrests including 144 foreign nationals, the seizure of 94 excavators, and the destruction of 2,647 chanfang platforms. The secretariat reported an 87.7 per cent operational strike rate . Blue Water Guards deployments have reached 2,069 personnel across eight regions .

The Lands Ministry has also advanced a Responsible Cooperative Mining Scheme to formalise community mining, with Regional Ministers backing the initiative and calling for expedited rollout .

Call to Action

Duncan urged the youth to desist from illegal mining and called on government, traditional authorities, communities and civil society to support efforts to end the menace. He noted that the Praso forum was part of efforts to engage young people directly, with pupils staging drama performances highlighting the impact of river pollution on farming livelihoods, public health and national food security .

The professor's warning echoes broader concerns about food security. Galamsey has destroyed large portions of cocoa farms and food crop lands, while polluted water sources threaten the operations of Ghana Water Limited's treatment plants due to high turbidity and siltation .

"Destroying these resources for short-term financial gain threatens the long-term prosperity of the nation," Duncan said .

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The forum at Praso was organised by the UCC Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering under its community sensitisation programme.