AFGHANISTAN

WATER ISSUES AND ACCESSIBILITY

SOURCES OF WATER IN AFGHANISTAN

Primary source of water is

Snow melt in the Hindu Kush Mountains With runoff peaking in early summer

With few glaciers, the snow line is between

4000 to 5000 m, so there is Little permanent snow

Without sufficient damn and reservoirs Afghanistan is pretty much susceptible to

Flood and Drought

WATER BASINS

The Amu Darya

The Helmand

The Kabul

The Harirud and Murghab

THE AMU DARYA BASIN

the Amu Darya is on the order of

250,000 km2.

Estimates of average annual flow also vary from

13.3–19 km3, depending both on whether

Sub-basins are included

HELMAND RIVER BASIN

Helmand river basin has a total area of

386,000 km2, of which about 321,000 km2 lies within Afghanistan,

about 78 percent of the total

Approximately

20 percent of the basin is in Iran 2 percent in Pakistan

By area, this is the largest river basin in Afghanistan, but the river’s average annual flow

Is only about 14 bcm.

KABUL – BASIN

Its basin area is

79,360 km2 And the river’s average

annual flow is 24 bcm

Irrigates about

0.55 million hectares of agricultural land

It has the largest flow of all of Afghanistan’s rivers

THE HARIRUD MURGHAB - BASIN

The Harirud flows generally west to the

Iranian border, turns north and forms the border between

Iran and Afghanistan

The Murghab River flows from

Afghanistan directly into the Qaraqum desert of

Turkmenistan

WATER SHARING AGREEMENTS

No treaty exist for Amu Darya Basin

In 1973, a transboundary water allocation treaty was signed between Iran and Afghanistan

Agreements among post soviet independent republics

Agreements between Great Britain, Afghanistan and Russia/Soviet Union

USES OF WATER - IRRIGATIONAL PURPOSE

Irrigated agriculture: 93% of the country’s total water use

Traditional irrigation system: Irrigating up to 100 ha

Shallow well system: Altogether, about 6600 shallow wells irrigate about 12,000 ha

Springs: There are about 5560 springs in the country irrigating 188,000 ha.

Karez: There are 6741 karezes in Afghanistan, irrigating about 163,000 ha of land.

LOW PRECIPITATION & DROUGHTS

Afghanistan during late 2007 and early 2008 have led to the worst drought conditions in the past 10 years.

Wheat production in 2008/09 fell at 1.5 million tons, down 2.3 million or 60 percent from last year.

The government of Afghanistan and the United Nations appealed to the world community to donate

$400 million to cover the sizable wheat import and food aid needs of

Approximately 4.5 million affected Afghans

SNOW COMPARISON FROM 2007 TO 2008

WHEAT STATISTICS

DAMAGE DUE TO FLOOD

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 3,508 people were killed, 661 injured and about 1,015,935 affected in the 46 floods in the country from 1954 to 2007

Institutions Role Coverage

The Ministry of Water and Power

Mapping, monitoring and management of surface water and groundwater resources

The Ministry of Public Works Urban water supply Water supply and sewerage to the Microrayon area of Kabul is the responsibility of the Microrayon MaintenanceDepartment

Central Authority for Water and Sanitation

Mandate is for urban water supply within the areal limits of the Master Plan of the city

Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Ghazni,Laghman) and Shiberghan (Jawzjan)

Ministry of Mines and Industries

Groundwater investigation and survey, especially of “deep”hydro geological mappingstrategic plans for optimal exploitation of resources.

Such plans are, however, rather focused on Kabul and, to a lesser extent Mazar-e-Sharif.

Ministry of Irrigation

Municipalities Responsible for surface water drainage and solid waste disposal.

Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development

RRD is active in designing deep wells and networks for parts of Kabul City outside of the Master Plan, where shallow groundwater is salty.

SAFE WATER AND SANITATION

The great majority of Afghanistan’s population lacks access to safe water or sanitation

Afghanistan has a population of

26 million people 70% of which is undernourished And one in four children die before the age of

five According to UNICEF, nearly 50,000 children

die from diarrhea in Afghanistan every year

Only 13% of people have access to improved water sources and the situation has worsened due to

Inadequate rainfall over the last two years

WATER SHORTAGE

The United Nations and the Afghan government have warned that

Some 2.5 million people face an “imminent food crisis” due to the water shortage and have called for nearly US $76 million in aid

Farmers lose some 70 percent of their water as it flows towards their farm fields during irrigation because of the water infiltration into the ground

DAMAGE TO THE WATER RESOURCES

Conflicts & Drought

Mismanaged Extraction

Uncoordinated and unmanaged extraction of both ground and surface water resources

Urban Development

Water quality is threatened by contamination from

Waste dumps Chemicals Open sewers and urban rainwater runoff

Due to mismanagement of surface water, many of Afghanistan’s wetlands are completely dry and no longer support wildlife populations or provide agricultural inputs

LACK OF MAINTENANCE

The Karez system is not in good shape. The country receives

Less than 300 millimeters of rain each year.

The irrigated area of Afghanistan is now only half what it was in 1980.

With a per capita water use of

1,700 cubic meters And a national per capita water resource of 3,200 cubic

meters The Afghans have a comfortable amount of water, if

managed properly.

IMPACT OF WAR AND NEGLECT

The intake structures of modern irrigation schemes are out of function

Due to the missing of mechanical parts looted during the war

And lack of professional staff to repair and operate these systems

The migration of farmers to other countries left behind the irrigation schemes unattended

Farmers have abandoned about

40% of the land due to lack of maintenance And 10% of the land is completely destroyed due to war.

DAMAGED - IRRIGATION STRUCTURES

About 46% of the irrigation structures are damaged

And 88% of the irrigation structures are traditional which are responsible for the 40% of the total water loss.

For example, irrigation provided under the Parwan project declined from 25,000 ha to 10,000 ha due to sedimentation in canals and poor maintenance.

DAMAGE DUE TO PURE NEGLECT

Desertification/ flood generation in the country

Unlawful ownership of water rights by influential personalities i.e. Warlords and Maliks

Degradation of natural resources

Massive destruction/ cutting of trees and intentional burnings of forests

Degradation of rangelands for fuel collection

Changing of pastureland to rain-fed cultivation

RECONSTRUCTION – WATER PROJECTS

Kadjaki Dam

A $16 million project

330-foot dam and power plant

The structures provided electrical power and helped irrigate tens of thousands of acres of farmland

John Shepherd, one of the American engineers

"We rehabilitated the first turbine and brought it back online in October 2005 at full capacity, and then, due to the security situation, we weren't able to move forward with the other unit…”

WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS

In addition to wells and hand pumps,

7,400 families will benefit from latrines and hygiene education with the help of DACAAR

DACAAR has begun constructing

300 water points in Nangarhar, Farah, Kunar and Laghman.

DACAAR's water and sanitation activities have benefited an estimated

5.5 million people across 26 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.

AGA KHAN FOUNDATION

In 2002 Aga Khan Foundation and its implementing partner, FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance, started

The Water and Sanitation Program (WATSAN) in the provinces of Badakhshan, Samangan and Kunduz

Some 1,000 wells have been built or reconstructed and more than 30 piped drinking water supply systems have been installed and maintained in seven districts.

Community labor built and maintains water supply systems that benefit more than 100,000 people

UNHCR – WATER POINTS DEVELOPMENT

In 2008, UNHCR implemented the construction of 375 water points.

Each water point is complemented with two model latrines.

In the years 2002-2004, a total of 8,119 water points have been completed.

It is estimated that these interventions benefit over 1.1 million Afghans.