1 / 28

AFG HANI STAN Water issues and Accessibility

AFG HANI STAN Water issues and Accessibility. Sources of Water in Afghanistan. Primary source of water is Snow melt in the Hindu Kush Mountains With runoff peaking in early summer With few glaciers, the snow line is between 4000 to 5000 m, so there is Little permanent snow

kermit
Download Presentation

AFG HANI STAN Water issues and Accessibility

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. AFGHANISTANWater issues and Accessibility

  2. Sources of Water in Afghanistan • Primary source of water is • Snow melt in the Hindu Kush Mountains • With runoff peaking in early summer • With few glaciers, the snow line is between • 4000 to 5000 m, so there is • Little permanent snow • Without sufficient damn and reservoirs Afghanistan is pretty much susceptible to • Flood and Drought

  3. Water Basins • The Amu Darya • The Helmand • The Kabul • The Harirud and Murghab

  4. The Amu Darya Basin • the Amu Darya is on the order of • 250,000 km2. • Estimates of average annual flow also vary from • 13.3–19 km3, depending both on whether • Sub-basins are included

  5. Helmand River Basin • Helmand river basin has a total area of • 386,000 km2, of which about • 321,000 km2 lies within Afghanistan, about 78 percent of the total • Approximately • 20 percent of the basin is in Iran • 2 percent in Pakistan • By area, this is the largest river basin in Afghanistan, but the river’s average annual flow • Is only about 14 bcm.

  6. Kabul – Basin • Its basin area is • 79,360 km2 • And the river’s average annual flow is 24 bcm • Irrigates about • 0.55 million hectares of agricultural land • It has the largest flow of all of Afghanistan’s rivers

  7. The Harirud Murghab - Basin • The Harirud flows generally west to the • Iranian border, turns north and forms the border between • Iran and Afghanistan • The Murghab River flows from • Afghanistan directly into the Qaraqum desert of • Turkmenistan

  8. Water sharing agreements • No treaty exist for Amu Darya Basin • In 1973, a transboundary water allocation treaty was signed between Iran and Afghanistan • Agreements among post soviet independent republics • Agreements between Great Britain, Afghanistan and Russia/Soviet Union

  9. Uses of water - Irrigational Purpose • Irrigated agriculture: 93% of the country’s total water use Traditional irrigation system: Irrigating up to 100 ha Shallow well system: Altogether, about 6600 shallow wells irrigate about 12,000 ha Springs:There are about 5560 springs in the country irrigating 188,000 ha. Karez: There are 6741 karezes in Afghanistan, irrigating about 163,000 ha of land.

  10. Low Precipitation & Droughts • Afghanistan during late 2007 and early 2008 have led to the worst drought conditions in the past 10 years. • Wheat production in 2008/09 fell at 1.5 million tons, down 2.3 million or 60 percent from last year. • The government of Afghanistan and the United Nations appealed to the world community to donate • $400 million to cover the sizable wheat import and food aid needs of • Approximately 4.5 million affected Afghans

  11. Snow Comparison from 2007 to 2008

  12. Wheat Statistics

  13. Damage due to Flood • According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 3,508 people were killed, 661 injured and about 1,015,935 affected in the 46 floods in the country from 1954 to 2007

  14. Safe water and Sanitation • The great majority of Afghanistan’s population lacks access to safe water or sanitation • Afghanistan has a population of • 26 million people • 70% of which is undernourished • And one in four children die before the age of five • According to UNICEF, nearly 50,000 children die from diarrhea in Afghanistan every year • Only 13% of people have access to improved water sources and the situation has worsened due to • Inadequate rainfall over the last two years

  15. Water shortage • The United Nations and the Afghan government have warned that • Some 2.5 million people face an “imminent food crisis” due to the water shortage and have called for nearly US $76 million in aid • Farmers lose some 70 percent of their water as it flows towards their farm fields during irrigation because of the water infiltration into the ground

  16. Damage to the water resources • Conflicts & Drought • Mismanaged Extraction • Uncoordinated and unmanaged extraction of both ground and surface water resources • Urban Development • Water quality is threatened by contamination from • Waste dumps • Chemicals • Open sewers and urban rainwater runoff • Due to mismanagement of surface water, many of Afghanistan’s wetlands are completely dry and no longer support wildlife populations or provide agricultural inputs

  17. Lack of Maintenance • The Karez system is not in good shape. The country receives • Less than 300 millimeters of rain each year. • The irrigated area of Afghanistan is now only half what it was in 1980. • With a per capita water use of • 1,700 cubic meters • And a national per capita water resource of 3,200 cubic meters • The Afghans have a comfortable amount of water, if managed properly.

  18. Impact of War and Neglect • The intake structures of modern irrigation schemes are out of function • Due to the missing of mechanical parts looted during the war • And lack of professional staff to repair and operate these systems • The migration of farmers to other countries left behind the irrigation schemes unattended • Farmers have abandoned about • 40% of the land due to lack of maintenance • And 10% of the land is completely destroyed due to war.

  19. Damaged - Irrigation Structures • About 46% of the irrigation structures are damaged • And 88% of the irrigation structures are traditional which are responsible for the 40% of the total water loss. • For example, irrigation provided under the Parwan project declined from 25,000 ha to 10,000 ha due to sedimentation in canals and poor maintenance.

  20. Damage due to Pure Neglect • Desertification/ flood generation in the country • Unlawful ownership of water rights by influential personalities i.e. Warlords and Maliks • Degradation of natural resources • Massive destruction/ cutting of trees and intentional burnings of forests • Degradation of rangelands for fuel collection • Changing of pastureland to rain-fed cultivation

  21. Reconstruction – water projects • Kadjaki Dam • A $16 million project • 330-foot dam and power plant • The structures provided electrical power and helped irrigate tens of thousands of acres of farmland • John Shepherd, one of the American engineers • "We rehabilitated the first turbine and brought it back online in October 2005 at full capacity, and then, due to the security situation, we weren't able to move forward with the other unit…”

  22. Water Supply Projects • In addition to wells and hand pumps, • 7,400 families will benefit from latrines and hygiene education with the help of DACAAR • DACAAR has begun constructing • 300 water points in Nangarhar, Farah, Kunar and Laghman. • DACAAR's water and sanitation activities have benefited an estimated • 5.5 million people across 26 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.

  23. Aga Khan Foundation • In 2002 Aga Khan Foundation and its implementing partner, FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance, started • The Water and Sanitation Program (WATSAN) in the provinces of Badakhshan, Samangan and Kunduz • Some 1,000 wells have been built or reconstructed and more than 30 piped drinking water supply systems have been installed and maintained in seven districts. • Community labor built and maintains water supply systems that benefit more than 100,000 people

  24. UNHCR – Water Points Development • In 2008, UNHCR implemented the construction of 375 water points. • Each water point is complemented with two model latrines. • In the years 2002-2004, a total of 8,119 water points have been completed. • It is estimated that these interventions benefit over 1.1 million Afghans.

More Related