Abstract:All nations firmly believe in the absolute sovereignty over the waters flow in their areas and that only riparian states have any legal right, apart from an agreement, to use the water from the shared river. To address some of their water concerns, the co‐riparian states compete to have more quantity of waters. Significantly, no water agreement exists between upper riparian Afghanistan and lower riparian Pakistan, despite sharing nine big and small rivers. The simmering water dispute between them on the River … Show more
“…In KPK province, the Kabul River passes through Peshawar, Charsadda, and Nowshera. Its largest tributary is the Kunar River, which starts as the Mastuj River, flowing from the Chiantar glacier in Brughil Valley in Chitral, Pakistan, and after flowing south into Afghanistan, joins the Bashgal River flowing from Nurestan, eastern Afghanistan 25 . Figure 1 Location map of ( a ) Pakistan and Afghanistan ( b ) the whole Kabul River basin's digital elevation model.…”
Water plays a key role in the economic growth of an agricultural country. Pakistan is a farming country that uses almost 90% of its water resources for agriculture. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan has extensive surface water resources. In addition to using groundwater resources for irrigation, large parts of its flat plains are irrigated with the Kabul River surface water. Due to large population growth and unregulated small/local scale industries in the region, surface water quality deteriorates with time, which affects people's health when polluted surface water is used for irrigation purposes. This research investigates the surface water quality of Kabul River's different tributaries. It identifies the most critical and vulnerable locations regarding water quality using the weightage-based identification method and distance-based iteration method, respectively. The Bara River exhibited the most critical location, surpassing the threshold values by a considerable margin in at least seven water quality parameters. The maximum seven critical values determined against the Bara River using the weightage-based method, i.e., 17.5, 5.95, 7.35, 27.65, 1.75, 0.35, and 10.45 for total alkalinity, sodium, total hardness, magnesium, total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand (BOD), and turbidity. The Khairabad station, where the Kabul River meets the Indus River, was identified as vulnerable due to elevated levels of total suspended solids, hardness, sulfate, sodium, and magnesium using distance-based methods. The locations, i.e. Adezai, Jindi, Pabbi, and Warsak Dam, appeared critical and vulnerable due to the prevalence of small-scale industries on their bank and high population densities. All the results are finally compared with the interpolated values over the entire region using Kriging interpolation to identify critical and vulnerable areas accurately. The results from the distance and weightage-based methods aligned with the physical reality on the ground further validate the results. The critical and vulnerable locations required immediate attention and preventive measures to address the deteriorating water quality parameters by installing monitoring stations and treatment plants to stop further contamination of the particular parameter.
“…In KPK province, the Kabul River passes through Peshawar, Charsadda, and Nowshera. Its largest tributary is the Kunar River, which starts as the Mastuj River, flowing from the Chiantar glacier in Brughil Valley in Chitral, Pakistan, and after flowing south into Afghanistan, joins the Bashgal River flowing from Nurestan, eastern Afghanistan 25 . Figure 1 Location map of ( a ) Pakistan and Afghanistan ( b ) the whole Kabul River basin's digital elevation model.…”
Water plays a key role in the economic growth of an agricultural country. Pakistan is a farming country that uses almost 90% of its water resources for agriculture. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan has extensive surface water resources. In addition to using groundwater resources for irrigation, large parts of its flat plains are irrigated with the Kabul River surface water. Due to large population growth and unregulated small/local scale industries in the region, surface water quality deteriorates with time, which affects people's health when polluted surface water is used for irrigation purposes. This research investigates the surface water quality of Kabul River's different tributaries. It identifies the most critical and vulnerable locations regarding water quality using the weightage-based identification method and distance-based iteration method, respectively. The Bara River exhibited the most critical location, surpassing the threshold values by a considerable margin in at least seven water quality parameters. The maximum seven critical values determined against the Bara River using the weightage-based method, i.e., 17.5, 5.95, 7.35, 27.65, 1.75, 0.35, and 10.45 for total alkalinity, sodium, total hardness, magnesium, total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand (BOD), and turbidity. The Khairabad station, where the Kabul River meets the Indus River, was identified as vulnerable due to elevated levels of total suspended solids, hardness, sulfate, sodium, and magnesium using distance-based methods. The locations, i.e. Adezai, Jindi, Pabbi, and Warsak Dam, appeared critical and vulnerable due to the prevalence of small-scale industries on their bank and high population densities. All the results are finally compared with the interpolated values over the entire region using Kriging interpolation to identify critical and vulnerable areas accurately. The results from the distance and weightage-based methods aligned with the physical reality on the ground further validate the results. The critical and vulnerable locations required immediate attention and preventive measures to address the deteriorating water quality parameters by installing monitoring stations and treatment plants to stop further contamination of the particular parameter.
Water plays a key role in the economic growth of an agricultural country. Pakistan is a farming country that uses almost 90% of its water resources for agricultural purposes. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan is blessed with extensive surface water resources. In addition to using groundwater resources for irrigation, large parts of its flat plains are irrigated with the Kabul River surface water. Due to large population growth and unregulated small/local scale industries in the region, surface water quality deteriorated with time. Which impacts people's health when polluted surface water is used for irrigation purposes. This research investigates the surface water quality of Kabul River's different tributaries and identifies the most critical locations in terms of water quality. Various physical, chemical, and biological parameters at ten sites on as many Kabul River tributaries are examined to investigate surface water quality. The distance and weightage-based identification method is used to identify the most critical and vulnerable locations for each parameter. The maximum seven critical values determined against the Bara River using the weightage-based method, i.e., 17.5, 5.95, 7.35, 27.65, 1.75, 0.35, and 10.45 for total alkalinity, sodium, total hardness, magnesium, total suspended solids, BOD, and turbidity. In comparison, the distance-based iteration method is used to identify the most vulnerable location against the specific parameter. All the results are finally compared with the interpolated values over the entire region using Kriging interpolation. The areas are mostly the same identified through the distance and weightage-based method. The results will guide the competent authority to install the monitoring station and treatment plants for specific parameters responsible for the critical location and to stop further contamination of the particular parameter near the threshold.
This paper investigates the collaborative and benefit-sharing approaches to conflict management in the management of cross-border water resources for the sustainable development of the Kabul River Basin riparian states of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The study offers an understanding of water management strategies concerning peace, progress and development, and sustainability. Using an interpretative social science approach, this paper investigates the impacts of water scarcity and stress, hydro-politics, water diplomacy, and water issues among co-riparian countries. It also investigates how cross-border river management impacts river water sustainability and sustainable cross-border water management strategies. The paper finds that the most significant factor in resolving and managing cross-border water disputes is to employ a collective and combined method of water management based on cooperation and benefit-sharing. This is in addition to providing an immediate cost-effective benefit of improving water supply, hydroelectric generation, and agricultural production, as well as future communal and monetary benefits for the public who reside and work the river basin. The paper proposes establishing a combined cross-border basin authority for both Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to effectively realize the benefits of the Kabul River Basin.
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