Bagre Dam Spillage Threatens Northern Ghana as Farmlands Face Annual Destruction

The government of Burkina Faso has announced that the Bagre Dam will begin spilling water from Wednesday, August 27, 2025, heightening concerns in northern Ghana where the annual exercise has become synonymous with destruction and loss.

In a statement dated August 22, signed by Kindo Issiaka, Head of Hydraulics at SONABEL (Société Nationale d’Électricité du Burkina Faso), officials disclosed that the dam’s upstream elevation currently stands at 233.98 metres, representing 86.38% of its filling capacity. The reservoir is now just 1.02 metres below its maximum operating level, necessitating a controlled release to safeguard the dam’s integrity.

While the measure is vital for the dam’s safety, it has historically brought severe consequences downstream in Ghana. For more than two decades, spillage from Bagre has wreaked havoc on farming communities in the Upper East Region, destroying homes, submerging farmlands, and disrupting livelihoods. The timing, often at the peak of the farming season, compounds the impact on thousands of smallholder farmers who depend on the White Volta River for irrigation and food production. The destruction of farmlands leads to poor harvest and high cost of food items.

The situation underscores the lack of complementary irrigation and flood-control infrastructure in northern Ghana. It is important to note that the long-delayed Pwalugu multipurpose dam which was to feature a 25,000-hectare irrigation scheme, the largest in the country is a missed opportunity that could provide a critical buffer by helping to regulate the Bagre spillage while also boosting irrigation, hydropower, and agricultural productivity in the region.

The Kompienega Dam in Burkina Faso is also nearing capacity, with an upstream elevation of 177.66 metres and a filling rate of 77.26%, standing just 2.34 metres below its maximum operating level.

The recurrent nature of these spillages continues to highlight the urgent need for sustainable cross-border water management strategies between Ghana and Burkina Faso. Without such measures, communities along the White Volta are left to brace annually for devastation that disrupts both lives and the economy.

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