Families in Kabul are living the water crisis that experts say could become a full‑blown catastrophe by 2030. In the Khair Khana district, 34‑year‑old Shazia and her three children must walk to a mosque each day, wait in hour‑long lines at a hand pump and carry heavy buckets home. “My back aches and I hate dragging my kids after school, but we have no choice,” she said.
Rapid growth and aging infrastructure strain supplies
Kabul’s population has exploded from under 1 million in 2001 to roughly 6 million today, according to United Nations estimates. The surge has outpaced the city’s water infrastructure, which was never designed for such numbers. Most households—about 80 %—still rely on hand pumps or private tanker trucks, and only one‑fifth have piped water.
Groundwater levels have fallen nearly 100 feet over the past decade, according to the nonprofit Prosper Global. The city now loses an estimated 1.55 billion cubic feet of water each year, and nearly half of its boreholes have dried up. “We have only a limited window of time,” warned Mohd Faizee, a professor at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.
Climate change compounds the problem
Six consecutive years of drought have left the region’s snowpack at a 25‑year low, and snow levels have dropped about 20 % between 2014 and 2020. With less meltwater feeding the Kabul River and recharging aquifers, the city’s natural water sources are dwindling. When rain does fall, the city’s hard, impermeable surfaces turn it into flash floods that rush through streets instead of soaking into the ground.
Residents pay a high price for water
For families like Asadullah Ahmadi’s, water costs consume a large share of income. Ahmadi, who supports a family of seven, spends roughly 150 Afghanis (about $2.35) per day on water—up to 30 % of his total earnings. The water he receives is often dirty and must be boiled before use.
Private water companies pump groundwater and sell it at inflated prices, a practice described by former Prosper Global director Marianna von Zahn as “profit‑driven” rather than humanitarian. The United Nations notes that when water costs exceed 3 % of household income, they become unaffordable; many Kabul families are far above that threshold.
Health and safety concerns grow
Up to 80 % of the city’s groundwater is contaminated with sewage and naturally occurring arsenic, creating a hidden health crisis. Residents who rely on this water risk exposure to water‑borne diseases and long‑term toxic effects.
What officials and experts are saying
Najibullah Sadid, a researcher with the Afghanistan Water and Environment Professionals Network, prefers the term “water bankruptcy” to describe the situation, emphasizing that the resource may no longer be recoverable. He warns that vertical expansion—multistory buildings stacked atop existing structures—intensifies demand on already strained supplies.
Prosper Global’s report calls the situation a “human catastrophe” and urges immediate international attention and investment in sustainable water infrastructure. Without such action, many families may be forced to abandon the city, though neighboring countries are increasingly turning away Afghan migrants.
Local resilience amid uncertainty
Despite the dire outlook, Kabul’s residents continue to adapt. Some families dig deeper wells, like Mirza Jan, whose well now extends more than 700 feet underground thanks to financial support from his sons in the United States. Others rely on community networks to share water when supplies run low.
For now, the city’s water crisis remains a daily reality for thousands of Afghans, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated local, national and international efforts to secure a sustainable water future for Kabul.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
