Water Resource Management in Afghanistan

Water Resource Management in Afghanistan

Introduction

Water has been identified as a critical element for the long-term stability of Afghanistan by both the United States and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Years of conflict and war along with the continuous drought, have severely impacted the water sector of Afghanistan. According to a report published by Afghanistan Millennium Development Goals in 2010, only 27% of the total Afghan population has access to the safe drinking water. Hence, the country stands amongst the nations which have lowest rates of safe drinking water access. The situation also worsened because of scarce rainfall over the last, urging government to declare the 12 districts drought affected.

This lack of access to water also hampers the agricultural activities of the country. Agriculture is the source of living for more than 80% of the population and also accounts for about 93% of total water usage of Afghanistan through irrigation. Despite this need, only 30% of the agriculture land of the country receives suitable amount of water. Owing to these problems, ABC agency recognizes that the basic restriction in the water sector is the constraint capacity for managing, planning and implementing of multi-sectoral water management program.

Problems

Over the coming years the increase of water is likely to increase in Afghanistan due to the growing demands from urban centers, agriculture as well as industries. Along with the increase in population and improvement in development prospects, it is important to improve the water system of the country. On the other hand, the return of millions of refugees has also accelerated the water resource competition and the balance of supply and consumption of water has also changes due to numbers of internally displaced people. There are two types of problems within the “management” of ground water reserves in Afghan cities: lack of knowledge of the geological conditions of the subsoil and lack of accurate data on the levels of quality and effective supply.

Choosing the region

Kandahar province is the most badly affected area which is currently experiencing serious drought since 1991. Water level of the river Arghandab which is the main water resources for Kandahar have also dropped due to the minimal rain and snowfall in province. The conflicts and the drought have played vital role in destructing the traditional 'Karez' (an underground water sources and the shallow shells. Most of the local people in the province do not have access to suitable amount of water let alone the safe drinking water.

Discussion

Afghanistan is among the countries that suffer from water shortages. Energy and Water Ministry estimates that 75 billion cubic meters of water supplies to Afghanistan are among the 70 percent of its neighboring countries, especially Iran and Pakistan are using 30% of it is used for internal purposes. Weaknesses in the management of the vast resources of water, water use due to unresolved political problems with neighboring countries, lack of skilled manpower in the country's top water management, incomplete information about the areas of water, lack of ...