Conceptual model of water resources in the Kabul Basin, Afghanistan

Watersheds of Want

“…Nonetheless, in spite of the groundwater being underutilized in some places in the country, it is overused in a few places, such as beneath several of the cities, especially Kabul (Uhl and Tahir, 2003;Mack et al, 2009). Groundwater drawdown (Uhl and Tahir, 2003) has been a matter of considerable discussion because of water table declines of 4-6 m and a few to ten meters in the Kabul Basin, 5-8 m in Kandahar, 2-4 m in the Herat Basin, and 2 m in Zabul, with many wells going dry.…”

“…The map of Shareq et al (1977) has basic bedrock aquifer types, sparse water table contours, and limited water chemistry and flow rates. An example of a modern study was that done recently by the US Geological Survey in the Kabul Basin (Mack et al, 2009), with a full hydrogeological assessment ( Figure 5.35). Additional such studies in many other areas of the country were scheduled but had to be canceled because of the considerable danger from the Taliban insurgency against the hydrogeologists who customarily undertake a good deal of exposed field work in order to obtain the requisite information.…”

“…In some cases detailed water information was described where sufficient detail was possible to obtain the thickness of different aquifers, along with the depth to the water table, the Mack et al (2009). specific discharge in liters per second (l/s) from drill holes, discharge (l/s) from wells, springs, and karezes, and mineral content in grams per liter.…”

Application of Modified Tank Model to Simulate Groundwater Level Fluctuations in Kabul Basin, Afghanistan

“…Snow in the upstream mountains is an important source of surface water. The main source of groundwater recharge is infiltration from rivers and irrigated agricultural lands in Kabul Basin [15]. In addition, local precipitation in the wet monsoon storms can also recharge the groundwater in sub-basins.…”

“…The quaternary deposits are characteristically in the valleys which have less than 80 m thickness. The underlying tertiary deposits in Kabul City have around 800 m thickness, but more than 1000 m thickness [15] in some areas of the valley.…”