Water Unites

Afghanistan
Five river basins stretch over the territory of
Afghanistan. Three of them cover the nor th ern
part of the country and are considered part of
the Amu Darya Basin: The Panj-Amu Basin
in the very northeastern area, the Haridud-
Murghab Basin with the Murghab and Tejen
rivers flowing into Turkmenistan, and the socalled
Northern Ba sin, though its rivers still
silt up on Afghan territory. Together, they
cover about 37% of Afghanistan’s territory
B A S I C I N F O R M AT I O N
Total area
Irrigated land
Population
Population growth
Median age
Gross domestic product
per capita (2009)
652 090 km 2
31 990 km 2
32.6 mln
3.2%
16.6 years
$ 457
and account for almost 50% of the total surface water availability in the country. The Panj,
the Amu Darya’s major tributary, forms the border of Afghanistan with Tajikistan. It is
formed by the confluence of the Vakhan and Pamir Rivers. From the source of the Pamir,
the Panj has a length of 1137 km. Important tributaries in Afghanistan are the Kunduz,
the Koksha, and the rivers of Badakhshan.
There is limited data on how much water exactly is formed and used in the Afghan
part of the basin, since the monitoring system broke down in the late 1970s due to the civil
war. Based on previous data and recent studies, experts estimate that between 14 and 27%
of the Amu Darya’s flow is formed in Afghanistan and that it currently uses about 2 km³
(3%) of the average annual river discharge. Due to topography and climate, arable land
is scarce and 94% of agriculture depends on irrigation. Consequently, agriculture is the
main water user at 95%. The irrigated area in the Amu Darya Basin encompasses around
1.16 million ha (about 42% of the total irrigated area in the country), mainly subsistence
agriculture, which most of the rural population of Northern Afghanistan relies on. Apart
from that, there is a growing cultivation of poppy.
The agricultural sector’s contribution to Afghanistan’s GDP amounts to 33% (2008),
but it absorbs about 60% of the labour force (2008). Therefore, the agricultural sector is
considered important for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan by the
Afghan National Development Strategy and international donor agencies. Efforts toward
reconstruction, poverty reduction and rural development include the rehabilitation of
irrigation systems, re-cultivation of former irrigation land, and construction of small
HPPs. All these efforts will increase water usage in Afghanistan, though not dramatically.
In a study for the World Bank, Ahmad and Wasiq estimate that the technically feasible
expansion and reconstruction of irrigation schemes would increase water use by 0.8 to
1 km³ per annum. A short-term increase beyond the levels of the 1980s seems unlikely.
But under conditions of increasing water shortage in downstream areas, even a slight
increase raises concerns.
Despite being an integral part of the basin, Afghanistan is not included in any
regional agreements. Agreements between Russia and later the Soviet Union and Afghanistan
on border rivers did not include provisions on water distribution. When the Soviet
Union established the water limits for Syr Darya and Amu Darya, it did not consider
32 Afghanistan