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The report is an environmental impact assessment of two conjoining water streams in the lower area of the Wembury catchment where freshwater meets the coast. The assessment was conducted as there were concerns that the streams may be causing exceedances of the Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) due to catchment-based inputs from anthropogenic activities.

Water, sediment samples, and other parameters were collected, measured, and treated to preserve the concentration of nutrients and metals at three sites. A comparison with the neighbouring river Erme was made to determine if the findings were coherent. The report includes recommendations and mitigation strategies needed to improve the environmental quality of the system.

Findings indicate several breaches of EQS: water nitrogen, copper and zinc, and sediment copper. The highest recorded concentrations were mainly at sites one and two, likely from point source inputs from Wembury town and pollution accumulation from upstream land use such as arable and agricultural land. A special precaution must be taken for sediment copper, increasing monitoring to ensure values do not exceed Probable Effects Level (PEL) possibly becoming dangerous for the fauna and flora but also for humans. River Erme showed to also have EQS breaches but to some degree displayed an overall better ecological status. Despite several breaches in the legal limits, Wembury displays an overall good ecological status supporting life above and below water and is therefore an appropriate model for promoting environmental stewardship. It is to be noted that the material of the coursework was further edited after its original submission.

The aim of this paper is to determine whether the dominant integrated water resources management (IWRM) paradigm within which the Pra River Basin is managed holds the key to address the current water security and sustainability issues in Southwestern Ghana.

This study employed a literature review developed based on water security and sustainability studies as well as normative scenarios from the broad scenario planning methodology. The study builds on Wæver’s Theory of Securitization and the Utilitarian theory to protect water bodies through the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Insights on introducing innovative environmental sustainability technology are presented and propose the Pra-integrated smart water security management decision-making system that uses visual inspections, noise sensors, the potential of hydrogen (pH) probe sensor, real-time collection of hydrological data (streamflow) and wireless transmission of the data in real-time at the basin level. This serves as a robust tool for managing the basin’s sustainable development ecosystem by using AI to protect water bodies against illegal mining.

The proposed innovative environmental technology which is the first of its kind is meant to gain a better understanding of pollution incidents and respond quickly to them by integrating AI and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies with traditional IWRM practices. This addresses water security in the Pra Basin, supports policy development and innovation, strengthens the goal of the government to protect water resources against pollution and contributes to the African Water Vision and the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 6.