Encroachment and Deforestation Threaten Freetown’s Main Water Source

By Ishmail Saidu Kanu

Perched on the northern edge of a mountainous forest peninsula, Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, is the only place in West Africa where forest-covered mountains meet the sea. From a distance, it is an impressive sight, with the urban metropolis largely overshadowed by the backdrop of forested mountains. Yet, beyond this visual spectacle, a complicated relationship between Freetown and its surroundings persists.

The pressures of the rapidly expanding city are taking an increasing toll on the forest expanse, with the fringes of the city rapidly pushing up into the mountains of the forested peninsula. Such an expansion is met with trepidation, as the forested area provides vital functions for the city, such as a catchment for water reserves and as a protector against natural hazards including landslides and flooding.

About 38.5% of Sierra Leone is covered by tropical rainforest but it is estimated that deforestation rates have increased by 7.3% since the end of the civil war. The serious and accelerating rate of deforestation in the country is not only threatening biodiversity and ecosystem balance but is contributing to damaging the Guma Dam, which is nearby Number Two Village and the mountainous peninsula.

The city, designed for only four hundred thousand inhabitants, is now home to more than one million people and it is expected to add five hundred and thirty-five thousand more residents by 2028, according to the recent census conducted by Statistics Sierra Leone. Urbanization and agricultural expansion associated with the growth of Freetown have led to extensive encroachment into the Guma Dam. Deforesting the Dam’s forests threatens the watersheds that provide about 90% of Freetown’s water supply, increases the risk of floods and landslides, and destroys critical habitats for wildlife.

The Guma Dam

The Freetown water supply is in a critical situation as it relies principally on a single source, the Guma Dam, with over 90% of the total water supply to Freetown from the Dam’s Water Treatment Plant. The Dam was built in the early 1960s to provide water reliably to around 300,000 people, but the current population in Freetown is now significantly higher than that original figure.

Standing on the embankment of the Dam, Ing. Mohamed Ibrahim Koroma, Production Manager of Guma Valley Water Company, explains to this reporter about the operation of the facility. “Initially it was constructed for a population of 300,000 but there was some room for expansion. It was designed for a capacity of 4.8 billion gallons,” he says.

He adds: “There is also a little Guma on the other side with a pipe network of 1.5 km., created to augment the main reservoir; when the Dam is considerably low and we are at the height of the dries.

“When the rebel war occurred, we had massive urbanization; people were coming into Freetown and the capacity wasn’t enough again to supply water. But before the war, there were some improvements in the facility, in that, it was doubled from 6 million gallons per day to 12 million gallons and, subsequently 18 million gallons per day.

“So when the war broke, there was no way Guma could put the situation under control, but the small allowance that was left was for us to increase the spillway. Initially, the spillway was 848 feet above sea level (the depth of the dam). So it was increased from 848 feet to 862 feet (1.5 metres high was increased). So the total volume now shifts from 4.8 billion gallons to 5.2 billion gallons (the present capacity of the dam). That was one of the steps we had taken then to find a way of improving the water supply to match the rapid urbanization that took place then.

“The treatment plant was improved from supplying 18 million gallons per day to 19.5 million gallons. So currently, the design capacity of the treatment plant is 19.5 million gallons per day (89000 cubic metres or 89 million litres of water) per day. We don’t have a fixed supply of what we are sending out based on the population and very many other factors; chiefly deforestation. We’ve developed several minor sources just to help the main dam.”

Ing. Koroma says the reason for the intermittent water shortage is because of what the dam is having now, indicating that it is not commensurate with the demand.

“Not that the water is not equal to the population, but also where the water is coming from, its sources are being affected as a result of deforestation. So we are doing intermittent water supply as opposed to the regular water supply. At maximum, we can only supply 80 million litters or 80,000 cubic metres; at minimum, we can go as low as 60,000 cubic metres,” he explains.

“The plant is relatively old; there is a diminishing return. We are presently refurbishing the facility so that we can come back to where we were. But even at that, what the city needs now is about 150,000 cubic metres of water but the plant is designed for 89000 cubic metres. We cater for the entire Western Area on to Newton.

“We are really pushing to supply more water to the city. We even have a project titled: Freetown Wash and Aquatic Environment Revamping Project to see how best we would bring in other minor sources, up to about 10-12, just to see how best we would improve on the water supply.”

Deforestation

On Friday 5th June 2020, President Julius Maada Bio launched the National Tree Planting Project. During the launch, he said the project is aimed at planting 5 million trees across the country between now and June 2024. President Bio said that the project will benefit the Health, Water and Agriculture sectors amongst others.

However, the Guma Valley Water Company is worried about the rampant spate of deforestation ongoing at the Guma Dam Trail at the No. 2 River Community, which has the tendency to expose the Guma Dam, which supplies over 90% of potable water to Freetown, to severe climate change impacts.

The Western Area Peninsula’s forests play an essential role in supplying water and in maintaining water quality. Forests serve as natural water collection, filtration, and delivery systems. The Peninsula’s forests also mitigate landslides by stabilizing soil and providing flood control services by absorbing and holding vast amounts of water from major rain events, such as those increasingly seen with climate change.

Analysis of the Global Forest Cover Change (GFCC) Tree Cover dataset shows that from 2000 to 2015, 10,587 hectares of forest experienced some thinning or loss of canopy cover, equating to an overall loss of 2,103 hectares during the 15 years. This is an average loss of 140 hectares per year. By 2050, it is estimated that an additional 5,115 hectares of forest within and around the Guma Dam will be lost if nothing is done. This represents almost a third of the current forest cover.

Environmental Consultant, Amara Salami Kanu, says the consequences of deforestation include reduced water flow, soil erosion and reservoir sedimentation, flooding and landslides, and biodiversity loss. “Collectively, these present a grave threat to Freetown and the Western Area Peninsula,” he points out.

Salami adds: “Besides, these threats cascade because of the independencies between the Peninsula’s natural and socio-economic systems, resulting in damaging feedback loops that can be difficult to stop if not addressed early.

He says failure to mitigate deforestation around the Guma Dam threatens the region’s water supply, increases the possibility of ecosystem collapse, and leads to the greater likelihood of environmental disasters, all of which exacerbate water insecurity.

“This in turn leads to human deprivation, ill-health and diminished sustainability livelihood opportunities, forcing people to engage in negative coping mechanisms that further degrade the ecosystem. Urgent, coordinated action is needed to stop the downward spiral,” he advises.

According to a 2021 report from Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the forests of the Western Area Peninsula are important for controlling soil erosion, trapping sediments and preventing them from entering the Guma water supply reservoir that is situated within the Peninsula.

The report further states that the Western Area Peninsula protects the largest remaining moist closed forest in western Sierra Leone and is the westernmost remnant of the Upper Guinean forest. It also provides important habitats for some 400 birds and 50 mammal species, including endangered species such as the Western Chimpanzee and the Jentink’s Dukier.

The report continues that deforestation within the Western Area Peninsula and urbanization of the land surrounding it shrinks the habitat of these species, increases the potential for human-wildlife conflict, and makes it easier for poachers to access the area. In the northern section of the Peninsula, poachers frequently blanket the forest floor with snares, trapping and killing everything that falls into them.

In the dry season, water demand can exceed supply and residents must find alternative sources. More often than not, they purchase water at water stands or from informal vendors selling bottled water or water in plastic sachets. Continued deforestation of the catchments in the Peninsula is likely to further impact the availability of water to these residents.

Deforestation degrades filtration capacity and causes increased erosion, which leads to increased turbidity and suspended solids in the water that so many people depend upon. Water sediment concentration is correlated with bacterial pathogen content, and, therefore, declining water quality is likely to have significant health consequences for people who rely on untreated surface water sources.

Encroaching the Dam

According to Ing. Mohamed Ibrahim Koroma, Production Manager of Guma Valley Water Company, encroachment is massive around the Dam.

“Massive in the sense, the entire acreage of this Western Peninsula National Park is 18,000 hectares. Of this 18,000 hectares, we took a portion from Mile 13 to Tokeh and we produced a report which accounts for about 2,250 hectares. Of these 2,250 hectares, that have been encroached upon, 950 houses are found within. 60% of the people there are claiming to have documents and they have fully constructed properties,” he says.

Urban expansion is the most serious driver of forest loss within the Western Area Peninsula. By 2011, human settlements that house some 100,000 people had encroached on 3,200 hectares of land. Moreover, under the BAU scenario of the Water Fund, urban expansion is predicted to increase by 197% between 2015 and 2050, which would result in significant additional encroachment into the Western Area Peninsula or Guma Dam area.

When people build settlements at the forest frontier, they not only clear land to build homes and roads, but many of them also cut down and burn forests to make room for economic activities.

The Director General of Guma Valley Water Company, Ing. Maada Kpenge, recently informed Members of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Water Resources that encroachment of land and deforestation continue to pose a big challenge to the adequate water supply.

“A lot of damage has been done to the facilities and private buildings have been erected there. Deforestation and encroachment are the greatest challenges for us, and if not handled immediately, we will have to lose many reservations. We need enough land space to build another reservoir and if not taken into consideration, we will continue to have shortages of water,” he says.

A 2019 assessment of 38 areas within the Peninsula’s main catchments by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), identified 147 hectares of illegal agriculture, including the production of charcoal, marijuana and other crops within the area. Furthermore, stone quarrying, fuel wood harvesting and illegal logging have been identified as causes of deforestation and degradation in the Western Area Peninsula.

The country’s President, Julius Maada Bio in April 2022 visited the Guma Dam where he called for the re-establishment of the Western Area Forest Green Belt and an immediate investigation into the activities of the Ministry of Lands and Housing for the concerning environmental infractions.

The President said his visit was, therefore, to get first-hand experience of the enormity of the threat to the water source and to provide the required political leadership to lawfully prosecute and punish deforestation and those involved in land grabbing around the water catchment areas. He added that the ongoing encroachment of the Western Area Forest Green Belt area of the Guma Valley Dam facility was an environmental concern that should be stopped immediately.

“The Western Area Forest Green Belt area is an implementation of Parliament. So, the land is protected by law. This is very annoying and concerning. All those who are responsible should face the law. This is an existential threat that will not be tolerated. We are going to re-establish the Green belt and protect it,” President Bio said during his visit.

He continued “In as much as we want everyone to build homes, we should do it within the confines of the law. Guma is a major source of water supply to Freetown. Encroachment into the land will limit the fetch and storage of water to the city. If you undermine the environment, it will not protect you.”

Inter-Sectorial Coordination

Illegal activities like deforestation and encroachment within the Guma Dam and its environs continue because of the weak enforcement, which is rooted in weak policies and institutions, ministerial mandate overlap, corruption, weak monitoring, and an absence of inter-sectorial coordination among government agencies.

The effective enforcement of environmental laws and regulations is closely linked with the overall quality of governance. Fortunately, there is growing awareness of the urgency to protect the Western Area Peninsula, and nature-based solutions are gaining support among policymakers.

A few weeks after his visit to the Guma Valley Dam and observing the challenges to the proper functioning of water infrastructure, President Bio set up an inter-ministerial body to immediately assess those problems and recommend concrete actions.

The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), together with the security sector, subsequently visited the Guma Dam where they got first-hand information on the scale of illegal human activities such as the construction of houses meters away from the dam, the hewing down of trees rapidly drowning the dam, and the use of fertilizer to grow crops closer to the dam, which tends to infect the water that would be supplied to residents.

The National Security Coordinator, Office of National Security (ONS), Abdulai Avayama Caulker, says the sporadic encroachment into the protected areas of the dam needs urgent attention to save it from a total collapse, noting that what he saw was frightening and people must be stopped.

“This is the only infrastructure in the Western Area that supplies water to millions of homes in Freetown and its environs, we must not sit and allow people to destroy it and do nothing. We must act to protect and preserve the dam,” he adds.

Mr Caulker promises to summon an emergency meeting with the Guma Valley Dam Management, the NDMA and other relevant security sector players to decide on concrete steps to stop the illegal constructions and provide permanent security to protect the dam.

On behalf of the military, the former Chief of Defense Staff of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, Brigadier General Sulay Sesay, vowed to support the implementation of any resolution to protect the Dam.

“We’ll support any decision to protect this dam. These people should be stopped at all costs to safeguard this critical infrastructure. Our lives depend on it; everything we do hovers around water so it’s incumbent on us to guard it jealously,” he said.

Environmental Laws

The Guma Valley Water Company Act 2017 is an Act to provide for the continuance in the existence of the Guma Valley Water Company, to provide for the sustainable supply of water for public and private purposes and to provide for other related matters.

Section 43 (1) of Part III of the Act which deals with offences states that: “Any person who -,(a) wilfully or negligently causes damage to any waterworks or the environment in the catchment area; (b) unlawfully diverts or takes water from any waterworks or a catchment area; (c) pollutes or causes risk of pollution to any water in any waterworks or catchment area commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Le.10,000,000.00 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or to both the fine and imprisonment.

Section 47 (1) says “Any person who trespasses on a catchment area or any enclosed land appropriated or used for waterworks commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Le 50,000,000.00 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or to both the fine and imprisonment. (2) No person shall, without the consent of the Company fasten any animal to any structure or apparatus of the Company. (3) No person having custody or control of an animal shall allow any animal to wander on any pipe track or waterworks. (4) Any person who contravenes subsection (2) or (3) commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Le 3,000, 000.00 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and imprisonment”.

Environment Agency Act, 2008 is an Act to establish the Sierra Leone Environment Protection Agency, to provide for the effective protection of the environment and other related matters.

Part VI–Miscellaneous, Section 53 (1) “Where it appears to the Agency that the activities of any undertaking pose a serious threat to the environment or to public health, the Agency may serve on the person responsible for the undertaking, an enforcement notice requiring him to take such steps as the Agency thinks necessary to prevent or stop the activities.

(2) An enforcement notice shall specify– (a) the offending activity; (b) the steps required to be taken; and (c) the time within which the steps shall be taken.

(3) The Agency may, in an enforcement notice direct the immediate cessation of the offending activity where it considers that the circumstances so demand.

(4) Any person who acts contrary to an enforcement notice issued under this section commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Le50, 000,000.00 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both the fine and imprisonment…”

The laws are there to punish encroachers and those who deforest the Guma Dam environs. Institutions responsible are expected to take the necessary legal actions by prosecuting those who are trying to endanger the existence of the Guma Dam.

The National Water Resources Management Agency has developed regulations on Pollution Control Regulations, Groundwater Development Regulations, Water Use and Catchment Protection Regulations, and Dam Safety Regulations. These Regulations will create the enabling environment for the efficient management of the country’s water resources. According to the government of Sierra Leone, the Water Resources Minister will soon bring these measures and other legislation to Parliament.