He said the Commission would not hesitate to prosecute any drilling company that flouts the drilling laws and therefore called on them to acquire the appropriate drilling permits from the Commission to undertake their businesses.

Mr Abungba who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga said continuous pollution of water resources was alarming and indicated that water drilling services required licenses and permits from the Commission.

He said the management of Water Resources Commission required collaborative efforts to sustain use and protect the resource and noted that behavioral change was critical in preventing pollution and abuse of the resource since water use was important to the public and therefore users of water needed to make conscious efforts to sustain this resource.

The Basin Officer indicated that human activities impacted negatively on water bodies which invariably affected water resources and said in spite of these challenges the Commission was in control and had designed educative programme to sensitize the public on improving the management of water resources.

He said apart from being established to coordinate water resources, the Commission had put in place legal measures to control negative impact of water use and added that companies that wrongly drilled water could be denied rights to their businesses and be made to face full rigors of the law.

Mr Abugba indicated that the buffer zone policy directed the proper use of water resources, including distance permissible for any use of water, water drilling licenses for water use and drilling permits to reduce the negative impact on water resources.

 He said his outfit had sensitized members of the public and helped change attitudes since human activities contributed greatly to water pollution and added that transplanting of trees along buffer zones were being undertaken as part of activities to reduce the negative impact of exploitation of water resources.

 A press statement released in commemoration of the 2018 World Water Day, themed “Nature for Water”, indicated that behind the sources of pipe borne water was nature, which stored, cleaned and released freshwater.

The statement indicated that water kept man healthy, fed and powered industry and the economy via nature. ”nature components played different roles in maintaining and sustaining fresh water system in forests, aquifers, soils, lakes and wetlands  among others  for water storage”.

 It stated “as we use and divert water, we must ensure that the ecosystems received the water they need. Nature is both the source of water and a water user and that where this is not recognized, biodiversity is harmed and people lose the multiple benefits nature provided”.