The health of the lower basin of the Volta River in Ghana was evaluated in January–February and May–June 2016 using physicochemical parameters and benthic macroinvertebrates sampled at 10 locations. Selected environmental variables were compared to accepted environmental water quality standard values where applicable. Principal component analysis (PCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) were used to analyse the association between the benthic macroinvertebrates distribution and physicochemical variables. Pesticide concentrations were generally below the limit of detection 0.01 and 0.005 µg/L for organophosphate/synthetic pyrethroid and organochlorines respectively. Nutrient levels were also generally low; however, significant differences existed between the values of physicochemical parameters at the different sampling sites and seasons (Monte Carlo permutation test; p = 0.002), as well as between the abundance of macroinvertebrates at the different sites and seasons (p = 0.002). The environmental variables dissolved oxygen (DO), phosphate, pH, substratum (p < 0.05), turbidity, conductivity, total dissolved solids, total solids and nitrate (0.05 < p < 0.10) significantly explained the variation in macroinvertebrate composition between sampling stations in the Volta River. Polypedilum fuscipenne, was positively correlated with turbidity and DO concentrations; Physa sp., Centroptilum sp., Centroptiloides sp., Phaon iridipennis and juvenile fish were positively correlated with nitrate concentration and pH and negatively correlated with turbidity and DO. Polluted sites were dominated by the snail Lymnaea glabra. This demonstrates that physicochemical parameters and macroinvertebrates could be applied to describe the water quality and improve the biomonitoring for water resources management and the environmental protection in the Lower Volta River.

2016 年 1 月至 2 月和 5 月至 6 月，使用物理化学参数和在 10 个地点采样的底栖大型无脊椎动物对加纳沃尔特河下游流域的健康状况进行了评估。在适用的情况下，将选定的环境变量与公认的环境水质标准值进行比较。主成分分析（PCA）和冗余分析（RDA）用于分析底栖大型无脊椎动物分布与理化变量之间的关联。农药浓度通常低于有机磷酸盐/合成拟除虫菊酯和有机氯的检测限 0.01 和 0.005 µg/L。营养水平也普遍偏低；然而，p  = 0.002），以及不同地点和季节的大型无脊椎动物丰度之间（p  = 0.002）。环境变量溶解氧（DO）、磷酸盐、pH、基质（p  < 0.05）、浊度、电导率、总溶解固体、总固体和硝酸盐（0.05 <  p  < 0.10）显着解释了大型无脊椎动物组成在采样站之间的变化。沃尔特河。Polypedilum fuscipenne，与浊度和DO浓度呈正相关；Physa sp., Centroptilum sp., Centroptiloides sp., Phaon iridipennis和幼鱼与硝酸盐浓度和pH呈正相关，与浊度和DO呈负相关。受污染的地点主要是蜗牛Lymnaea glabra。这表明物理化学参数和大型无脊椎动物可用于描述水质并改善下沃尔特河水资源管理和环境保护的生物监测。