Afghanistan's Troubled Waters

“To ensure food security for the ever increasing population, poverty alleviation, employment, and national security, it is necessary to develop the current irrigable land from current 1.9 million hectares to that of 5 million hectares through development of water critical infrastructure… it is essential to upgrade the traditional irrigation systems including the introduction of modern irrigation methods”

The above declaration adopted at the second ‘National Conference on Water Resources Development & Management of Afghanistan’, held in Kabul in December 2010, called on the Afghan government and its international partners to expedite investment and up gradation of the country’s water infrastructure. The seminal importance attached to utilisation of water resources as part of the reconstruction efforts can be gauged from the fact that rivers and streams provide the pre-dominant source of supply for drinking water, maintenance of eco-systems and for agriculture. Any attempt to improve the country’s health indicators as well as rehabilitation of the agricultural sector which uses bulk of the water pre-dominantly from rivers and streams; provides employment to 80 per cent of the populace and contributes to an estimated 50 per cent of the country’s licit GDP, cannot be achieved without critical up gradation and modernisation of the country’s water management infrastructure.

Given that an estimated 80 per cent of the country’s water sources originating from Hindu Kush Mountains are snow fed, seasonal fluctuations in precipitation levels have left the populace vulnerable to environmental fluctuations, subjecting them to floods and droughts. Since 2001, the Afghan government has attempted to rectify the situation by undertaking a slew of projects aimed at revitalisation of existing irrigation and hydro-electric power projects and initiate a series of new ones.

The Salma Dam being constructed on the Hari Rud River by India at a revised cost of Rs 1457 crore; Machalgo Dam on Kunar River in Paktia province; the Kama irrigation project and the Sarobi dam project are some of the major initiatives underway in this direction. These projects are expected to help realise the full potential of irrigable agricultural land in the country which has contracted by one-third over the last three decades owing to water shortages. Better management of water resources is also expected to boost per capita availability of water and enhance water storage capacity - amongst the lowest in the world - mitigating impact of floods and droughts.

However inspite of these potential positive spin offs, Afghanistan’s neighbours remain far less enthusiastic of its ambitions to assert control over its water resources. Three decades of conflict ensured much of the country’s water flowed freely into neighbouring Pakistan and Iran and the Amu Darya basin shared with the Central Asian Republics. The challenge at hand is accentuated by the fact that Afghanistan lacks any trans-national framework with its neighbours to manage its water resources. The 1973 water sharing treaty for sharing Hari Rud waters with Iran was never ratified in Afghanistan, while the CAR’s following independence too adopted a unilateral approach towards development of Amu Darya waters.

The minimal draw of water by Afghanistan in the early 20^th Century and the political anarchy, which ensued in the early 1990’s rendered consultations on the issue unfeasible. However, as efforts have gotten underway since 2001 to resuscitate the economy, coupled with crippling droughts in 1999 and 2008, water resources have increasingly emerged as a source of contestation.

The issue thrown into sharp relief is the long delays and resultant cost over-runs for the Salma dam project that is expected to irrigate 75,000 hectares of land and generate 42 MW power in Chest-i-Sharif, Herat. Iran has been accused of orchestrating attacks and creating logistical hurdles for timely completion of the projects, which it is argued would reduce levels of water flow into Iran and be seen as a step to wean Afghanistan away from overt energy dependence on Iran. Furthermore, Iran and Turkmenistan have both been accused of constructing water storage facilities on Hari Rud River without consulting Afghanistan.

Pakistan shares the Kabul river basin which originates in Afghanistan and irrigates its agricultural lands. Islamabad has been expressing concern over the construction of as many as 12 dams on Kabul River, many with Indian aid. The geo-politics of the region have convinced Pakistan on its part of Indian designs to control water resources of the region flowing into Pakistan through aiding construction of dams in Afghanistan. The Afghans on their part remain firm in their belief of what they regard as malicious intentions of both their neighbours to sabotage the water infrastructure projects.

In contrast, on Afghanistan’ Northern frontiers things are not as heated up on the Amu Darya basin- shared between Afghanistan and the five Central Asian Republics (CAR’s); yet things are unlikely to remain as calm given that all countries attempt to scale up irrigated area for agriculture and generate hydroelectric power. Given that Afghanistan is the second largest contributor to water flow in the Amu Darya basin after Tajikistan, as it accelerates development of its water infrastructure projects it is likely to draw more water and reduce flows to other CAR’s over time.

While any increase on Afghanistan’s share of drawing on water resources is likely to be gradual and over time, yet the friction that mere initiation of water infrastructure related projects - some of which are still on the planning board- for irrigation and hydro-electric power generation are creating, point to a need to evolve mutually acceptable water management frameworks for Afghanistan and its neighbours. Given the regions complex geo-politics, coupled with lack of hydrological data in Afghanistan to monitor water use and implement water sharing agreements, make the task of managing the regions water politics formidable. However tiding over these troubled waters would be crucial for all stakeholders involved as energy and water consumption needs are likely to show a steady increase for all of them. More specifically for Afghanistan, as attempts continue to rehabilitate the country’s ravaged economy that is pre-dominantly agro-based; tap into its hydro-electric potential and increase water storage and distribution capabilities, developing a sound and sustainable water infrastructure and a water management framework in collaboration with neighbours would be seminal.

Raghav Sharma is a doctoral candidate at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, Germany

Views expressed are personal