Overarching barriers to mainstream green stormwater infrastructure in Ghana: Towards good green governance

Abstract

Environmental challenges associated with stormwater management, including flooding, droughts and depleting water quality, are exacerbated in urban areas. Despite growing expertise and policy advocacy for alternatives to conventional stormwater management approaches, Ghanaian cities, like many cities in developing countries, have not adopted governance principles to mainstream green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). There is very limited research which examines the governance barriers to mainstreaming GSI and their nuances within the Ghanaian context. Based on document analysis and interviews, this article explores the governance factors influencing GSI implementation and their associated barriers in Ghana’s most populated water catchment. It analyses the governance dimensions comprising actors, rules of the game, discourse, and resources and power that could influence stormwater management. The article highlights that governance dimensions are currently not framed to facilitate GSI implementation. This shortfall reflects 11 specific barriers, including poverty, unresponsive culture, lack of knowledge, and lack of collaboration. The barriers transcend multiple governance components, particularly the actors. Yet, several governance components, including the specific actors and existing policies, are not currently integrated into stormwater management despite having strong potential to overcome the barriers and facilitate GSI implementation. The article proposes a good green governance framework, which accounts for the holistic nature of the identified barriers and envisages active inclusion and collaboration between diverse actors, including a basin authority as an intermediary, communities, local governments and national-level agencies.