Abstract

Water resources have come under a lot of threat in recent years from human activities especially in the urban environment as their protection seem to be neglected not only by the populace but also the responsible institutions as well. Within this context, study seeks to address the issues of compatibility of land uses with water bodies. Sample size of 90 activity units selected at 90% confidence level and a margin of error 0.1 was used for data collection. It was found that common threats emanate from land use activities carried out along the buffer zones of these vital resources. The study identifies the various factors such as land, land users and their desires that influence land use activities along water bodies and makes recommendations such as the adoption of buffer zone policy towards land use management along water bodies in an urban area in the case of Subin and Aboabo Rivers in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area. The study reveals that there has been a massive encroachment of the buffer zones of the Subin and the Aboabo Rivers leaving patches of vegetative cover thereby exposing the river bodies to direct sunshine. In addition, activities located along these rivers are as a result of proximity to market, cheaper lands, availability of water, and closer to work place. According to the 1963 Town Planning Scheme, all land close to the main streams should be green belt zone. These natural flood plains of streams, no buildings were supposed to be erected on them. With increase in population and urbanisation however, these green belts have been encroached upon. Therefore, creating community awareness of the need to protect water bodies, enforcement of water protection related laws and institutional strengthening are imperative.

Key words: Rivers bodies, land use change, water resource management.