Small towns do not emerge spontaneously, but evolve, with water governance issues emerging at each stage of the community's growth. Water governance is bedevilled with challenges because cognitive attention is not given to water governance at early stages of growth. This paper examines small town water governance in Ghana, using field research in two communities, Gwollu and Daffiama, in north-western Ghana, which had water systems installed in the 1960s. Systems' thinking was used to unravel the evolution of the water systems. The paper uses historical analysis to focus on the water systems' successes and vulnerability issues, and to explain how management has been able to respond to different pressures over time. Each water system has been exposed to an array of pressures, including technological changes, socioeconomic and demographic changes, all of which have influenced the functioning of their water governance regimes. The case studies illustrate how each town's water system has gone through a cycle of adaptive change of: (i) growth/exploitation; (ii) conservation; and (iii) final collapse of the water system. After the collapse, the two towns moved to a reorganisation of their water system in the same year. The two water systems were moving to a collapse stage. The paper concludes by offering an explanation of the current state of outcomes.

小城镇不是自发出现的，而是随着社区发展的每个阶段出现的水治理问题而不断发展的。水治理面临挑战，因为在增长的早期阶段没有对水治理给予认知关注。本文通过对加纳西北部 Gwollu 和 Daffiama 两个社区的实地研究，考察了加纳的小镇水治理，这些社区于 1960 年代安装了供水系统。系统的思维被用来解开水系统的演变。本文使用历史分析来关注供水系统的成功和脆弱性问题，并解释管理层如何能够随着时间的推移应对不同的压力。每个供水系统都面临着一系列压力，包括技术变革、社会经济和人口变化，所有这些都影响了其水治理制度的运作。案例研究说明了每个城镇的供水系统如何经历了一个适应性变化的循环：(i) 增长/开发；(ii) 保护；(iii) 水系统最终崩溃。倒塌后，两个城镇于同年进行了水系统重组。两个水系正在走向崩溃阶段。本文最后解释了结果的当前状态。倒塌后，两个城镇于同年进行了水系统重组。两个水系正在走向崩溃阶段。本文最后解释了结果的当前状态。倒塌后，两个城镇于同年进行了水系统重组。两个水系正在走向崩溃阶段。本文最后解释了结果的当前状态。