Keta Lagoon

Keta Lagoon
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Village on the Keta Lagoon, 1890s
Keta Lagoon
Location	Volta Region
Nearest city	Keta
Coordinates	5°53′16″N 0°49′36″E / 5.8879°N 0.8267°E / 5.8879; 0.8267Coordinates: 5°53′16″N 0°49′36″E / 5.8879°N 0.8267°E / 5.8879; 0.8267
Area	1200 km2
Ramsar Wetland

Keta Lagoon, also called Anlo-Keta lagoon, is the largest of the over 90 lagoons that cover the 550 km stretch of the coastline of Ghana. This lagoon is 126.13 km in length. It is located in the eastern coast of Ghana and separated from the Gulf of Guinea by a narrow strip of sandbar. This open salty water is surrounded by flood plains and mangrove swamps. Together they form the Keta Lagoon Ramsar site which covers 1200 km²

There are seasonal inflow of sea water during high tide from the Gulf of Guinea and regular inflow of rivers. The rivers which drain into the lagoon include the Aka, the Tordzi River and Belikpa stream which enter the lagoon from the north. The lagoon is surrounded by many settlements. The towns include Anloga, Woe, Keta and Kedzi to the south, Anyako and Anlo Afiadenyigba to the north, Kodzi, Alakple and Tregui to the west and Denu and Adina to the east.

Over the years population growth, extensive human activities and climate change all contributed to reduce the volume of water in the lagoon which appears to be drying up. The lagoon became part of the daily existence of the people of Anlo land. In 1992 the Keta Lagoon was placed on the list of Wetlands of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and in 1999 work began on measures to limit further erosion and to control flooding of the coastal region.

This Lagoon got its name and prominence from the settlement of Anlo- Ewes but more especially from the town Keta and the uses to which this water resource is put. The inhabitants of the area surrounding the lagoon are the descendants of the Anlo Ewe groups who settled in Anlo land. Their ancestors migrated from Notsie in central Togo in the mid –seventeenth century. They settled at Anloga and then established several small settlements around the shores of the Keta Lagoon. Some of these towns are shown below with their 2010 populations.

The topographyof the area is a flat land with extensive lagoons in Togo and Benin along the coast. This suggests that the lagoon might have been formed when the sea receded back over the millennia. Hence there is a sandy coastline or sandy deposition along the littoral. Another theory is that there could be coastal rivers which have dried up leaving behind large ponds. This is evidenced by the remains of oyster shells that are deposited at various spots in towns to the northern side of the lagoon. A third theory is that during the ice age these spots were the remains of the ice which melted due to rise in temperature leaving behind a fresh lagoon. The infiltration of sea water made it saline.