Tinted detail of a photo: Road broken into slabs and buckled chunks of asphalt amid heaped soil, with a bent crash barrier and damaged buildings beside it, leading to a roundabout under a hazy setting sun.
NH
Natural Hazards

disaster risk governance

The dam upstream: why flood warnings fail the White Volta Basin and what we can do about it

Map of Ghana and Burkina Faso showing the White Volta Basin in light blue, a green validation domain, and the locations of a dam and a gauge. An inset map shows the region's location in West Africa.

On 25 August 2025, SONABEL – Burkina Faso’s national utility – began releasing water from the Bagre Dam two days ahead of schedule. The reservoir had reached 90% of its capacity, just 0.73 metres below its maximum retention limit [9]. The Water Resources Commission and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in Ghana issued immediate …[Read More]