Download Session2_Naim Eqrar Water Resources of Afghanistan

BY: Prof. M.Naim Eqrar
Dean of Geosciences Faculty
University of Kabul
11-13 Sept.-2012
Contents
Annual precipitation of Afghanistan
in(1975)
Snow cover area (2009)
Snow cover area before 1990 in Afghanistan
Snow cover (2010)
Afghanistan Water Resources
 Five river basins in Afghanistan
 57 billion cubic meters surface water (ANDS)
 18 billion cubic meter groundwater
Proportion (%) of Total River Flow by River Basin
70
Percentage %
60
57
50
40
30
26
20
11
10
4
2
0
Amu Darya
HarirudMurghab
Helmand
Kabul (Indus)
River Basin
Northern
Non Drainage
Area
Qaraqrum Desert
(Turkmenistan),
Turkistan plain
Aral Sea
Indian ocean
Sistan depression
 Mismatch between water availability and irrigated land
distribution
 Water resource availability in Afghanistan is also not
ideally distributed when put in perspective with irrigated
land distribution.
Falkenmark water stress indicator shows that Afghanistan is a mid
stress at the national level but one river basin below stress
threshold
There is 2,775 cubic meter/capita/year. This figure include the
amount of water which needs to be shared with the neighboring
countries.
Source: Calculassions based on Favre & Kamal (2004).
‫تغریابرنده گی ها در افغانستان ا الی سال ‪2100‬مشاهده مینمایید‬
‫افزایش درجه حرارت افغانستان الی سال ‪2100‬‬
Future Scarcity: By 2050, Afghanistan water availability
per capita will have reduced by 50%
Main natural Hazards in Afghanistan 1900-2010.
Source: EM-DAT. The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Université
catholique de Louvain, Brussels.
Drought
12
Protected Water Accessiblity
Qargha lake dryness-2006
Desert of Nawoor ,Ghazni city ,1977,7500
hectares
Climate change affect in Kabul basin
Kol-i- Hashmat khan (Natural wetland)
on Oct.2006
Climate affect on Ghazni lake .
27000 km2 ,2001
Water table decreased severely during the 2004 drought.
Source : MRRD, 2004.
Drivers of future scarcity
 Kabul is already in a situation of overexploitation of its
groundwater resource. The WSS is more optimistic and
estimates that supply can only cope with an increased
demand till 2012, based on a consumption of only 40
l/capita/day BGR, 2005.
Historical number of major flood events
in each month for all of Afghanistan.
* Data obtained from The Flood
Observatory, 1988-2010
Afghanistan is among the most vulnerable countries with
regards to floods.So Who are the most vulnerable?
Source: UNEP/GRID Geneva as quoted in ICIMOD presentation – Kabul – May 2008.
Water Infrastructure
 Low storage capacity not compare
with neighboring countries
 the lack of maintenance during 25 years of conflicts
combined with a high siltation rate (partly due to land
degradation in upper catchments) has highly impacted
the actual storage capacity, which is likely to be below
100 m3/capita
Afghan future Perspective
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Increased amount of water induced
hazards Increased flash floods
limited fresh water availability,
Soil degradation
overgrazing
deforestation
desertification
air and water pollution
Increased temperature
Decreasing amount of snow and ice
(Glaciers and permafrost)
More prolonged droughts
Landslides
Increased precipitation (Rain)
Longer wet season
Drier dry season
More high intense rainfall events
Summary and Recommendations
 About 16.8 million Afghans drink unsafe water.
 Inadequate access to improved toilets and waste disposal for 23 million people.
 Increasing population growth rates, placing pressures on the availability of water
resources per capita.
 Droughts and floods, causing direct death, injury, and property destruction, food
availability, and income opportunities.
 National disputes and international tension over water resources with potential
for further escalation.
 Environmental degradation exacerbating water demand and supply for human
and livestock use
Recommendations

The international community has a duty to assist in such process
on the problem of cross transboundary water.

Large scale storage/dams on rivers The specific challenges
Afghanistan is facing with its riparian’s countries on transboundary
water.
Capitalize on climate change support funds
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Small-scale water harvesting and conservation, watershed and
rangeland management
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Environmental degradation exacerbating water demand and supply
for human and livestock use