Afghanistan has abundant water resources.
The Kabul River supplies percent of the annual flow of water in the country, rising in the Hindu Kush and flowing along the borders of 11 provinces before draining into the Indus River near the city of Attock in Pakistan.
The river and its tributaries provide an important source of livelihood for nearly people living around the basin – and that population is expected to increase to 37 million by 2050.
The Afghan government recently announced that they will soon commence work on the construction of the Shahtoot Dam on the Kabul River.
But for Afghanistan, improving its power and water infrastructures is imperative to jumpstart its lagging economy and ensure internal stability.
More than 80 percent of the Afghan population lives in rural areas, the majority of whom depend on agriculture for livelihood.
Therefore, improving its power and water infrastructure is a pre-requisite for the socioeconomic development of Afghanistan.
The river irrigates of this fertile region – providing 85 percent of irrigation in Charsada, 80 percent in Peshawar, and 47.5 percent in Nowshera — and is the of drinking water for millions of Pakistanis living around the basin.
For instance, the Indus Water Treaty was signed between Pakistan and India in 1960 to regulate how the two countries share the Indus River.
In a meeting to review the treaty, said, “Blood and water can’t flow together.” Thus, India is planning to construct new dams on the river to maximize its water usage and is reviving the Tulbul project — a dam that has fueled dispute between India and Pakistan since 1987.

ISLAMABAD: The river flows have improved for now with river Kabul in high floods but drought-like conditions have already hit most parts of the country, affecting Kharif crops.
The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Friday said the river flows had more than tripled to 342,400 cusec since May 26 when they stood at 108,000 cusec.
Therefore, the water shares to Punjab and Sindh had been increased significantly and storage had been improved to one million acre feet (MAF).
“This dry condition caused water stress in the agriculture areas of the country that demands availability of more supplementary irrigation water for Kharif crops”, the PMD said.
It said the water availability in major reservoirs was low, however, water situation in major dams would improve with increase in temperature.
As a result, river inflows have further increased from 342,400 cusec on Friday to 356,300 cusec or 13,900 cusec higher than Thursday and 108,000cusec on May 26.
River Kabul was in high flood on Friday with its flows recorded at 91,000cs at Nowshera.
Punjab’s share was increased from 100,200 cusec to 107,000 cusec while Sindh’s share was increased to 110,000 cusec from 90,000 cusec.
Balochistan and Sindh were already getting full share of 14,000 cusec and 3100 cusec respectively.
Kharif cropping season starts from April-June and lasts until October-December in different parts of the country.