The construction of reservoirs and dams has given rise to incredible waterways, just as breathtaking as their natural counterparts.

Entire forests were submerged to create the world’s largest artificial reservoir in terms of surface area, located in Africa.

Lake Volta, contained behind Akosombo Dam, covers 3.6% of Ghana and has an area of ​​3,283 square miles (8,502 square kilometers). It is also the third largest artificial lake in the world by volume.

It has a storage capacity of 153 billion cubic meters and is approximately 250 miles long.

The hydroelectric dam generates a substantial amount of Ghana’s electricity, producing 912 megawatts of electricity, as well as for export to Togo, Benin and other neighboring countries to earn foreign exchange.

Lake Volta stretches from Akosombo in the south to the north of the country, with its northernmost point near the town of Yapei.

The Akosombo Dam holds back both the White Volta and the Black Volta, which once converged where the middle of the reservoir is, to form the single Volta River. The present-day Volta River flows from the power station outlets and dam spillways to the Atlantic Ocean in southern Ghana.

The idea for the dam was originally conceived by geologist Albert Ernest Kitson during the British colonial period in 1915, to harness the river’s energy to smelt locally sourced bauxite which is used to make aluminum . It then regained prominence at the end of the colonial era after World War II, when Kwame Nkrumah became president of the Gold Coast Colony – a British Crown colony from 1821 until its independence in 1957 under the name Ghana – and began to fight for the modernization of the territory.

A commission made up of British and local governments concluded that more than 60,000 people would have to be relocated, but that the lake would increase fishing opportunities, helping to feed the region’s population.

The project began in 1961 and was completed in four years.

Ultimately, 15,000 homes in 740 villages were flooded, requiring the resettlement of 78,000 people. Several forests were also submerged.

There were fears that water-related diseases, including malaria, trypanosomiasis and schistosomiasis, would spread. The formation of the lake disrupted traditional fishing and farming practices in the area and government-led modernization was unsuccessful. People had to adapt to the new circumstances themselves.

That being said, regional food production intensified in the decades following the construction of the Akosombo Dam, and the lake also opened a major waterway to the north of the country and provided new opportunities for the development of tourism which is gaining in importance. It provides an inexpensive route linking the savannah of northern Ghana to the coast.

However, water levels have recently fallen due to global warming, reducing electricity production.

The main islands in the lake are Dodi, Dwarf and Kporve. Digya National Park extends over part of the western shore of the lake. The first attracts tourist cruises.

Lake Volta is also important for transportation, providing a waterway for ferries and cargo. As this huge lake is in a tropical area, the water remains naturally warm all year round.

Recent developments include a large-scale venture to harvest submerged timber from flooded forests beneath the lake. The project harvests high-value tropical hardwood without requiring additional logging or destruction of existing forest and, according to Wayne Dunne, “could generate the largest source of ecologically sustainable natural tropical hardwood in the world.”