Physical Features
Lake Volta is the largest reservoir in the world, lying in Ghana and covering almost 8,502 kmē (3,275 square miles). Its northernmost point is at the town of Yapei, and southernmost at the Akosombo Dam, 520 kilometers downstream.
Lake Volta from space
The dam holds back the White Volta River and the Black Volta River. These two rivers formerly converged to form the Volta River; this river now flows from the dam to the Atlantic Ocean.
The lake was formed in 1965 when the Akosombo Dam was built. Due to the formation of Lake Volta, 78,000 people were relocated to new townships, along with two hundred thousand animals belonging to them; 120 buildings were destroyed.
Fishing on Lake Volta
The Akosombo Dam provides electricity for much of the nation. It is also important for transportation, plied by both ferries and by cargo boats.
Lake Bosumtwi, the only natural lake in Ghana, is situated about 30 km south-east of Kumasi within Ghana's Ashanti region. The lake is approximately 8 km across. This large crater lake (a lake that forms in a volcanic crater or caldera after a volcano has become inactive for some time. Incoming precipitation fills the depression to form a deepening lake) is situated within an ancient impact crater (a circular or oval depression, caused by the collision of a meteor with the surface).
Lake Bosumtwi
The Ashanti consider Bosumtwi a sacred lake. According to traditional belief, the souls of the dead come here to bid farewell to the god Twi. Because of this, it is considered permissible to fish in the lake only from wooden planks.
There are about 30 villages in the lake area, with a combined population of some 70,000 people.
The Lake Bosumtwi impact crater is 10.5 km in diameter and is estimated to be 1.07 million years old, placing it in the Pleistocene period.
The legends say that in 1648 an Ashanti hunter named Akora Bompe from the city of Asaman was chasing an injured antelope through the rainforest. Suddenly, the animal disappeared in a small pond. It was as if this body of water wanted to save the animal's life. The hunter never got the antelope, though he settled close to the water and started catching fish. This place he named “Bosomtwe”, meaning “good antelope”. This story suggests that at that time the lake level was very low.
The following centuries saw several wars about the lake as both the Ashanti and the Akim clashed, each claiming the area. The Ashanti prevailed.
There are currently a number of environmental concerns about the lake, including overfishing and inadequate farming methods. The growing population has increased demand for fish and excessive fishing has led to steadily decreasing catches, forcing increased reliance on agriculture. As more and more of the surrounding hills are converted into farmland, exposing the surface to the heavy rainfalls, soil erosion becomes an ever greater problem. In addition there is the changing lake level. Many villages have been submerged several times forcing the people to move up the slopes or outside the basin.
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