Water management and allocation within the Volta River Basin is characterized by a large number of actors and institutions.

National, regional and local state agencies, politicians, NGOs, donor organizations, traditional authorities as well as individual users allocate, abstract and use water in an often uncoordinated manner.

Although the countries of the Basin are undergoing comprehensive water reforms that aim at integrated water resource management (IWRM), comprehensive water management frameworks are missing.

A lack of resources, capacities and sometimes political will renders reform implementation slow and partially ineffective.

At the local level, water resources continue to be managed according to customary laws while official legislation is largely ignored.

At the national level, water law can be by-passed if important political and economic considerations are touched upon (e.g. with regard to dam construction, gold mining).

Until 2006, when the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) was established, the Volta Basin was also lacking a commission for the management of trans-boundary water resources.