The Central Regional Office of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) says, the indiscriminate illegal mining currently going on in the Pra River is adversely affecting water supply to Cape Coast, Elmina, and surrounding communities. In addition to the galamsey problem according to the GWCL is the current harmattan season also causing demand-supply gap that has become pronounced, giving consumers much discomfort and anxiety. The GWCL said, the Pra River which is the source of raw water for the Sekyere Hemang Treatment Plant of the company is being polluted by the activities of illegal miners, affecting the intake of the Plant. “Exacerbating the problem are galamsey activities taking place close to the intake of the Treatment Plant at Sekyere Hemang. The activities of these galamsey operators have led to heavy siltation at the raw water intake of the plant, thus, reducing the abstraction capacity and impacting production negatively”, GWCL said in a statement. It said further that, the illegal mining activities have also contributed to high turbidity of the raw water (suspended particles) from an average of 500 NTU to 7,000 NTU, causing the company to cut down its production by 30% to ensure the quality of water produced is not compromised. “Again, the wanton destruction of the vegetation cover close to the river banks has led to substantial loss of the topsoil which has all been washed into the river, thereby contributing to a significant reduction of the river basin/catchment”, it added. To provide a solution to the problem, the GWCL announced that, a dredging contract has been signed with Messrs Motion Motive Enterprise to undertake extensive dredging at the intake of the plant to create space for more water to flow to the intake to increase abstraction and production. It said management is also engaging all stakeholders of the Pra River to create awareness of the dire consequences of uncontrolled activities in the river body. “In the meantime, Management advises all customers to store water as long as it is available and also use it wisely. Management apologises to all customers in Cape Coast, Elmina and surrounding communities for this unfortunate situation and promises to work assiduously to normalise the situation”, the statement added.