KABUL, Afghanistan: Kabul’s groundwater reserves could be exhausted by 2030, with other Afghan cities also at risk of running dry, the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), an independent Kabul-based research group, warned in a new report.
The deepening crisis is worsening inequality, with low-income families spending as much as 30% of their earnings on tanker water, while wealthier households drill increasingly deeper private wells to secure their supply.
It said once known for its underground reserves and natural springs, Kabul is now experiencing a steady and alarming decline in groundwater levels. However, Afghanistan’s urban water crisis is neither new nor confined to the capital. Cities across the country are grappling with severe water shortages driven by multiple, overlapping factors.
Climate change has disrupted the seasonal patterns that once helped replenish aquifers, while rapid urban population growth has sharply increased water demand, far outpacing infrastructure development.
Perhaps most critically, the mismanagement of water resources—marked by fragmented institutions, weak regulatory oversight, and chronic underinvestment—has left Afghan cities without the systems needed to ensure safe and reliable water supply.
Urbanisation has also advanced with little regard for proper sewage management, resulting in widespread contamination of groundwater and further compounding the crisis.
According to aid agencies, Kabul is among the most water-stressed cities in Asia, with shortages fuelling disease, malnutrition, and school dropouts.
Eight-year-old Noorullah and his twin, Sanaullah told Reuters that they had to queue at communal taps or pool money for costly water tankers since their supply dried up four years ago.
Noorullah, who has epilepsy, said he once collapsed with a seizure while fetching water. His brother added, “Sometimes we stand in line for three hours. When the heat is too much, we feel dizzy.”
Their father, 42-year-old shopkeeper Assadullah, feels there is no choice. Sitting outside his small shop with empty water barrels stacked nearby, he said, “From morning until evening, my children go for water six or seven times a day.”
The shortages have gutted his income, too. On a good day, he earns $2–$3; however, he often closes the shop to help his sons push their loads.
Kabul’s population has more than doubled over the past two decades, surpassing six million, yet investment in water infrastructure has failed to keep pace. Years of conflict have severely damaged the city’s water supply system, forcing residents to rely on private wells or expensive water tankers—both of which are now proving unreliable.
Just a few streets from Assadullah, 52-year-old community leader Mohammad Asif Ayubi described a growing crisis affecting more than 380 households in the area. “Even wells drilled to 120 metres—nearly 400 feet—have run dry,” he said, noting that such depths were once believed to guarantee access to water.
“Kabul is among the most water-stressed areas,” said Najibullah Sadid, a water researcher based in Germany.
Earlier this month, UN envoy Roza Otunbayeva warned the UN Security Council that droughts, climate shocks, and rising migration could push Kabul to become the first modern capital to run out of water “within years, not decades.”
