A dry and ravaged land: Investigatingwater resources in Afghanistan

A tale of three Afghanistans: Deserts, mountain streams and growingcities. Credit: top and middle: Thomas J. Mack, USGS; bottom:©iStockphoto.com/MieAhmt.

Aside from the front-page issues of war and politics, one of Afghanistan’smost critical national needs is safe and reliable supplies of water. TheUnited Nations estimates that Afghanistan’s current population of about 31million will increase by nearly 80 percent by the year 2050 toapproximately 56 million. Such an increase will raise demand on thecountry’s already stressed water resources. In addition, recent researchsuggests that global climate change could alter precipitation patterns in

Afghanistan. In particular, both the amount and the timing of snowfallreceived at higher elevations could change, impacting the major source ofwater for many areas in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries, with an economylargely based on subsistence agriculture. Working in an arid climate onthin margins of profitability and sustenance, Afghan farmers depend onreliable, year-round sources of surface water and groundwater to irrigatetheir crops and water their livestock. Seasonal flows of streams and riversfed by melting snowpack high in Afghanistan’s mountains recharge alluvialaquifers located in populated valleys and provide city dwellers withdrinking water.

Because Afghanistan is highly susceptible to drought, access to clean,dependable water sources can determine the fate of a village. When thecountry suffered a drought from 1999 to 2005, whole villages with limitedwater resources were forced to abandon their land and flee to larger citiesand towns. Today, villages abandoned during the drought can still befound throughout the country while refugee camps established for thesame reason have become pockets of discontent.

Locations of Afghanistan’s major drainage basins, reinstalled streamgagestations and the Kajaki Reservoir, a major source for hydropower andirrigation in the Helmand River Basin. Credit: Thomas J. Mack, USGS.

As the country develops further, additional water supplies will be requiredfor anticipated mining and mineral processing activities, as well as forassociated businesses and communities that will be vitally important toAfghanistan’s future stability.

War and the Erosion of Water Wisdom

Water is arguably the most important resource inAfghanistan. Here, villagers line up for water at acommunity well near Kabul. Credit: Robert E.Broshears, USGS.

Citizens of developed countries can take for granted the basic informationabout water resources that is fundamental for assuring a dependablemunicipal water supply, for expanding the economic potential ofagriculture and industry, and for improving public health. Engineers and

government officials everywhere require accurate data about surface water(streams, rivers and reservoirs) and groundwater (aquifers, wells andsprings) in order to understand the complex relationship between surfacewater and groundwater. This body of knowledge, coupled with systematicinformation about water quality, is necessary to build and maintain waterinfrastructure and to manage water resources effectively for largepopulations. In developing countries, such as Afghanistan, this broadperspective is typically very limited or altogether lacking. Followingdecades of invasion and civil war, Afghanistan lacked the technicalcapacity, the communication infrastructure, and the modern equipmentnecessary for effective hydrogeologic investigations of its water resources.

The difficulty of obtaining safe and reliable supplies of water inAfghanistan is heightened by the fact that water-resources data collectionwas suspended around 1980 due to civil strife and the Soviet invasion.Subsequently, much of the institutional knowledge relating to waterresources was lost, most of the country’s water monitoring equipment wasdestroyed, and the abilities of Afghan water scientists stagnated.

At the turn of this century, Afghanistan’s hydrologic expertise was severelylimited. Its scientists had been isolated from the international scientificcommunity and from ongoing technological advancements in the field ofhydrology for more than two decades. Then, in October 2001, following the9/11 attacks, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan.

By early 2002, the U.S. had already begun collaborating with internationalpartners as well as scientists in Afghanistan to rebuild key civic institutionsand infrastructure — including those related to water resources. Sincethen, Afghan scientific knowledge and understanding of the nation’s waterresources have improved considerably as a result of institutional capacitydevelopments at various Afghan ministries and nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs). Recent developments have begun re-establishingcivil hydrologic expertise, and have led to the creation of local and nationalgroundwater monitoring networks and a national climatic network.Although further improvements are needed, these advances should assist

Afghanistan’s planners and managers to assess and monitor current andfuture water resources.

Building Water Knowledge and Skills

In 2004, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchersarrived at the Afghanistan Geological Survey (AGS)headquarters in Kabul to begin a decade-plus longcollaboration with AGS scientists. Credit: MichaelChornack, USGS.

In early 2004, recognizing the national need for regaining the knowledgeof Afghanistan’s water resources, Said Mirzad — a current U.S. GeologicalSurvey (USGS) employee and former director of the AfghanistanGeological Survey (AGS) who previously served as an advisor to the U.S.ambassador in Afghanistan — assisted in negotiating cooperativeagreements between AGS and USGS. By July 2004, USGS hydrologists hadbegun collaborating with their Afghan counterparts.

Since 2004, USGS efforts have focused principally on basic skill-building.For example, USGS scientists have provided training to Afghan scientistsand technicians in using modern computerized techniques required forhydrologic monitoring and for maintaining large databases. Since thecollaboration began, USGS and Afghan counterparts have released morethan 40 reports on the supply and quality of groundwater and surfacewater sources, including geohydrologic assessments to describe theavailability of water resources required for future development of areaswith mineral potential such as the copper-rich area of Aynak.

Starting With Groundwater

USGS and AGS scientists started with groundwater monitoring in theKabul Basin. Credit: Thomas J. Mack, Michael Chornack, USGS

One of the first projects USGS and AGS engineers undertook was toinvestigate water resources in the Kabul Basin. Kabul, the capital, is hometo more than 3.3 million people and one of the fastest-growing cities in theworld. Although the city is traversed by three rivers, the flow in these riversdecreases dramatically during the summer and fall when large volumes ofwater are diverted upstream for irrigation. Consequently, Kabul reliesprincipally on groundwater for domestic and industrial water supply.Future water supplies in Kabul could be adversely impacted by decreasingvolumes of snowfields and glaciers, as have been observed in recent years.

Starting in mid-2004, USGS researchers have been training scientists fromAGS and the Afghanistan Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) incomputer science, GIS and GPS; in setting up and managing complexdatabases; and in conducting some of the latest field techniques for

assessing hydrogeology and water quality. Together, USGS and AGSscientists had inventoried about 150 wells in the Kabul Basin by the end ofNovember 2004. They measured water levels, and collected and analyzedsamples for physical, chemical and microbiological properties. In additionto shaping an understanding of critical hydrologic processes in the area,such as how streamflow and snowmelt recharge aquifers in the KabulBasin, one of the important findings was that streams and groundwater inmany areas of the basin were contaminated with high bacterial levels dueto lack of sanitation and wastewater treatment.

Once USGS scientists were on the ground inAfghanistan, they quickly set about teaching the AGSscientists how to use modern monitoring equipment.Credit: Thomas J. Mack, USGS.

In following years, Afghan and USGS researchers have continued to studythe sustainability of groundwater resources in the Kabul Basin. Thefindings are less than encouraging. Computer simulations of groundwaterflow, considered together with projections of population growth andpotential climate change, indicate that many water wells may dry up.Additional investigations using the now 10-year record of groundwaterlevels collected by AGS have documented drastically declininggroundwater levels in the city of Kabul at the same time that groundwaterlevels elsewhere in the basin are recovering from the multiyear drought ofthe early 2000s. These investigations raise concern for the ability ofKabul’s water resources to meet future needs and dramatically illustrate

the importance of the recent water-resource monitoring programs.

By 2010, AGS engineers applying the lessons learned in Kabul hadestablished similar groundwater monitoring networks in the majorpopulation centers of Mazar-e-Sharif (with a population of 368,000, thefourth-largest city in Afghanistan), Sheberghan (with a population of162,000) and Sar-e Pol (with a population of 151,000), all of which lienorthwest of Kabul, where many people in water-limited areas couldbenefit from the information.

Meanwhile, collaborative work with the Danish Committee for Aid toAfghan Refugees, an international NGO, led to the development of anational network of more than 150 wells to monitor groundwater levels.Administered by Afghan engineers, this first national groundwaternetwork will be vital to detecting and assessing regional trends in futuregroundwater levels and quality.

Recovering and Re-collecting Streamflow Data

Much of Afghanistan relies on subsistence farming with small irrigationsystems running from snowmelt-filled streams such as the Balkhab River.Credit: Thomas J. Mack, USGS.

Reliable streamflow information is fundamental to hydrologic science andwater management. Measurements of streamflow are needed to quantifywater available for irrigation and direct consumption, as well as forunderstanding water movement in the hydrologic system as a whole. Forexample, streamflow is usually both a major source of recharge to, anddischarge from, groundwater systems and is thus a key component inunderstanding the sustainability of groundwater systems. Quantifyingstreamflow is also an important component for negotiating andmaintaining treaties between countries on the sharing of water resourcesat national boundaries.

Using lessons learned in the Kabul Basin, AGSscientists have begun installing groundwatermonitoring networks in other areas, such asSheberghan. Credit: Thomas J. Mack, USGS.

In the early 1950s, USGS, working with a predecessor organization to theU.S. Agency for International Development, established a streamflowgaging program in the Helmand River Basin. The basin is a largeagricultural region, the watershed for the Kajaki Reservoir, and a potentialmajor source of electrical power in southern Afghanistan. By the late1970s, Afghanistan had a functioning streamflow and reservoir water-levelgaging network that consisted of 169 streamgages distributed across the

country. This network operated until 1980 when most streamgages weredestroyed or fell into disrepair. From 1980 to the early 2000s,Afghanistan’s original streamflow records were misplaced or destroyed andthe data were lost.

From 2006 to 2010, USGS and MEW researchers worked to recover dailystreamflow data from whatever historical documents hadn’t beendestroyed and could be located. Some data had been secretly taken byAfghan scientists for safekeeping at their own homes — at great personalrisk if the documents were found by the Taliban — to preserve them. Whenthe scientists brought the surviving paper copies to USGS and MEW, thedata were digitized and loaded into the USGS National Water InformationSystem. Since then, researchers have published reports providingcountrywide historical streamflow characteristics, including monthly andannual discharge, monthly and annual flow durations, annual peakdischarges, and monthly and annual mean discharges. This information isvital because it provides the basic historical data needed for assessments offuture water resources as a result of climate change. The information isnow available for all interested parties through a publicly available USGSdatabase.

Tom Mack and an AGS geophysicist at North Aynak.Credit: Thomas J. Mack, USGS.

USGS and AGS researchers install water monitoringnetworks in Aynak. Credit: Thomas J. Mack, MichaelChornack, USGS

Over the past decade, USGS scientists and Afghan partners have alsoinvestigated current surface water resources of the Kabul River Basin(where more than 10 percent of the country’s population lives andstreamflow is a major source of groundwater recharge), the Aynak mineralarea (near the city of Kabul), and the Helmand River Basin.

In the Kabul River Basin and the Aynak mineral area, streamflows havebeen shown to be highly variable. These flows can be greatly reduced in thesummer and fall as runoff from snow and ice in the surroundingmountains is reduced as water infiltrates into basin sediments or isdiverted for irrigation. In 2010, the USGS and AGS assessment of KabulBasin’s water resources found that about half of the shallow groundwatersupply wells could become dry or unusable due to declining streamflowsand recharge under projected climate change by 2050.

The Helmand Basin is dominated by the Kajaki Dam on the HelmandRiver. Completed in 1953 with U.S. guidance and funding, the huge damcreated a reservoir with a surface area of approximately 2,200 hectares. Asource for hydropower (its current capacity is 33 megawatts) and irrigationin the Helmand River Basin, Kajaki Reservoir has had its designed storagecapacity of approximately 1.7 billion cubic meters reduced due to infillingby sediment. Recent research indicates that the reservoir likely will havefuture storage capacity further reduced because of continued

sedimentation.

Nationwide, approximately 127 historical streamgages were re-establishedand supplied with modern equipment from 2008 to 2011 as part of a USGSand World Bank program. Unfortunately, the current level of training ofAfghan water scientists and engineers is not sufficiently advanced toeffectively operate the streamgage network. The USGS is currently workingwith MEW on developing necessary training programs for the Afghanscientists.

USGS continues to assist MEW with its national hydrologic informationnetwork to assess water resources in the country’s river basins and aquifersfor domestic, agricultural, energy, mining and other industrial needs, andto assess critical flows stipulated for transboundary international treaties.

Climate: The Context for Water Resources

Like most Afghan rivers, the Balkhab is fed by snowmelt. Credit: Thomas J.Mack, USGS.

A critical unknown factor in Afghanistan’s water future is the influence of achanging climate. “May Kabul be without gold, but not without snow,”implores an Afghan proverb. Afghanistan relies on winter snowfall in themountains to replenish the snowfields and glaciers that supply water to itsperennial and ephemeral rivers and streams. Reductions of the mountainsnowpack and glaciers due to climate change could have a profound effecton Afghanistan’s water resources.

The Afghanistan agricultural-meteorological (Agromet) project wasestablished on Jan. 1, 2004, to create a countrywide network ofagrometeorological stations. By 2014, Agromet was operating 102 stationsto record precipitation amounts, snow-cover extent and othermeteorological parameters necessary for the calibration of remotely senseddata and climate models. The program produces monthly bulletins andseasonal reports in both English and Dari, the Afghan dialect of Persian,and has trained more than 260 observers from government agencies andNGOs to make on-the-ground climate measurements and maintainmonitoring equipment.

Much of Afghanistan, such as the region around the village of Dusar, is adesert, relying on seasonal streamflow from snowmelt for water. Credit:

Thomas J. Mack, USGS.

The ability of Afghan government agencies to monitor and analyzevariations in climate will allow for proactive measures to be taken tomitigate potential adverse effects to the availability of water resources.Data that demonstrate how precipitation and temperature influence theamount and timing of the availability of surface water for irrigation can beused to select appropriate crops for planting. This knowledge can also beused to predict how much water will be stored in reservoirs and availablefor irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. The analysis of changesin groundwater levels in response to seasonal and regional variations inclimate enables specialists to determine where water supply wells are atrisk of going dry. The Afghan government is now poised to operate theclimate network and contribute data to larger regional networks for globalmonitoring.

A Decade of Water Data and Experience

USGS scientist Tom Mack (far left) talks to Afghanvillage elders through a colleague from AGS (holdinghammer) in the village of Dusar in 2010. Mack recallsthat “when the Afghan scientist explained to theelders that AGS and USGS were cooperativelysearching for copper ore in the hillside, and thatfinding it would lead to jobs for the local people, theelders politely thanked him and asked if we could helpthem find water first.” Credit: Thomas J. Mack, USGS.

By 2013, the availability of 10 years of data from the AGS groundwater-

level monitoring network in the Kabul Basin and from surface watermonitoring throughout the country provided a solid reference forunderstanding the sustainability of groundwater resources in the basin.Future generations of Afghan engineers will likely have the technical abilityto construct and run water-resource computer models that will enablethem to make long-term predictions regarding Afghanistan’s waterresources, but it is the availability of historic water-resource data,including climate data, that will allow those predictive models to becalibrated with past observations.

A comprehensive understanding of Afghanistan’s water resources by itsscientists, engineers, political leaders and citizenry is vital for the future ofthis struggling nation. “Water is more important to Afghanistan than anymineral or other natural resource,” Said Mirzad says. “Urban expansion,more intensive agriculture and prospective mining operations will allrequire more water, even as we face an uncertain climate future. It isparamount that we learn to use Afghanistan’s water resources wisely.”

This article is based on the work of Tom Mack and Mike Chornack, USGSscientists who have braved risks and devoted years of their lives to help thepeople of Afghanistan learn about their water resources.

Special thanks to Patrick Leahy, former acting director of USGS andcurrent executive director of the American Geosciences Institute (whichpublishes EARTH), who was an early advocate of the development of acooperative geoscience program to rebuild the Afghanistan GeologicalSurvey.

From 2004 through 2007, USGS and AGS activities were jointly conductedunder the auspices of the U.S. Agency for International Development.From 2009 to present, these activities have been conducted under theauspices of the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business andStability Operations.