Tapping out: Kabul may be first modern city to run out of water; report warns of ‘unprecedented humanitarian disaster’

Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, could become the first modern city to completely run out of water, warns a recent report. The report titled ‘Kabul’s Water Crisis: An Inflection Point for Action’, released recently by the NGO Mercy Corps, outlines in detail the city’s worsening water emergency and urges immediate international and domestic attention.The report says that Kabul’s groundwater extraction exceeds natural recharge by 44 million cubic meters each year, with the water table having dropped between 25 to 30 meters over the past decade. According to projections by Unicef, cited in the report, the city’s aquifers could run dry by 2030, potentially displacing up to 3 million people. The situation is already critical—nearly half of the boreholes, Kabul residents’ primary source of drinking water, are dry.An aquifer is an underground layer of rock, sand, or soil that holds water. It acts like a natural water tank. People access this water through wells, but if too much is taken out and not enough refills it (like from rain or snow), the aquifer can run dry.The report says, “Kabul’s water crisis represents a failure of governance, humanitarian coordination, water regulation, and infrastructure planning… Without immediate intervention, the city risks becoming the first modern capital in the world to fully deplete its water reserves.”Kabul’s water largely comes from three main aquifers, recharged by snowmelt from the Hindu Kush mountains. However, due to climate change and recurring droughts, snow and rain have significantly declined. From October 2023 to January 2024, Afghanistan received only 45–60% of its normal winter precipitation. According to the report, “Afghanistan is the sixth most vulnerable country in the world to impacts of climate change,” and Kabul is already seeing the effects, with reduced snowfall and shorter winters reducing the volume of meltwater.“Shorter winters also mean less time for snow to accumulate on the Hindu Kush, and thus less meltwater runoff in the spring, even as the city’s demand for water rapidly increases,” the report says.On the infrastructure side, only 20% of households in Kabul are connected to centralised piped water systems. Most residents rely on water pumped from borewells, many of which are unregulated or drying up. “90% of Kabul’s residents rely on water pumped from borewells to supply their daily needs,” the report says.The report also highlights water quality issues. “As much as 80% of Kabul’s groundwater is contaminated with sewage, toxins, and dangerously high levels of chemicals such as arsenic and nitrates,” posing major health risks. In interviews conducted for the report, 70% of residents said their well water had issues such as bad taste, odor, or discoloration.Economically, the crisis has forced families to spend 15–30% of their monthly income on water. In some cases, private water companies extract water and sell it back to residents at high prices. “Weekly water costs for a single household reach 400–500 Afghanis ($6–7), exceeding food expenses for more than half of households,” the report notes. “To meet this financial burden, families are forced to borrow more, placing them deeper into debt. 68% of households incur water-related debt, with informal lenders charging 15–20% monthly interest.”The city’s main water sources like the Qargha Reservoir and Shah-wa-Arous Dam are either underperforming or newly operational. Long-planned projects such as the Panjshir River Pipeline and Shah Toot Dam remain delayed due to funding and political issues.Governance challenges are also severe. The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), responsible for water quality monitoring, has lost about 40% of its technical staff, “largely due to technical staff fleeing the country.” Due to a lack of international recognition and funding cuts, like from USAID, the agency cannot conduct full water testing and lacks access to basic equipment.The report warns that unless urgent changes are made—including better governance, water infrastructure investment, and international cooperation—Kabul could face a humanitarian crisis. “Without large-scale changes to Kabul’s water management dynamics, the city faces an unprecedented humanitarian disaster within the coming decade, and likely much sooner,” it concludes.