First Time in Modern History: Capital City Near Water Crisis

The Daily Struggle for Water in Kabul

As the sun rises over the arid mountains surrounding Kabul, a family's daily battle to secure water begins. For Raheela, a 42-year-old mother of four, this struggle is a constant reality. Each day, she rushes out to the street as water tankers rumble through her neighborhood, hoping to fill her family’s worn buckets and jerrycans. Her family's water supply is always low, and every drop comes at a high cost, stretching both their nerves and their budget.

"We don’t have access to (drinking) water at all," Raheela told The News Pulse. "Water shortage is a huge problem affecting our daily life." Kabul is on the brink of a crisis that could make it the first modern capital to run completely dry. A recent report by Mercy Corps, an international non-governmental organization, warns that this crisis could lead to economic collapse.

Population growth, climate change, and excessive extraction have drained groundwater levels, with nearly half of the city’s boreholes already dry. Raheela’s family must pay for every drop of water, carefully managing their usage while sacrificing food and other essentials just to drink and bathe. "We are deeply concerned," she said. "We hope for more rain, but if things get worse, I don’t know how we’ll survive."

Marianna Von Zahn, Mercy Corps’ Afghanistan director of programs, warned that this is not just a water issue. "It’s a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a humanitarian emergency all in one."

A Growing Population and Depleting Resources

Kabul’s population has grown dramatically over the past three decades. In the early 1990s, the city had less than 2 million residents. However, the fall of the Taliban in 2001 led to an influx of migrants seeking security and economic opportunities. As the population expanded, so did the demand for water.

Kabul relies almost entirely on groundwater, which is replenished by snow and glacier melt from the nearby Hindu Kush mountains. However, years of mismanagement and over-extraction have caused groundwater levels to drop by up to 30 meters in the last decade. According to Mercy Corps, the city now extracts 44 million cubic meters more groundwater each year than nature can replenish, creating a dangerous imbalance that drains both the city’s reserves and its residents' finances.

Some families, like Ahmad Yasin’s, have resorted to digging deeper wells to find water. Yasin, 28, lives in a joint family of 10 in the northern part of the city. He and his brother have spent months waiting in line at a nearby mosque to bring water home for their children, parents, nieces, and nephews. To afford a well, they sacrificed food for six months, saving up 40,000 Afghanis ($550). After digging 120 meters, they found water, but it is not safe to drink. They boil it for long periods before using it, but they cannot afford filters or purified water.

Contaminated Water and Health Risks

Up to 80% of Kabul’s groundwater is contaminated, according to Mercy Corps. This contamination stems from widespread pit latrine use and industrial waste pollution. Diarrhea and vomiting are common problems, especially among families who rely on well water.

Sayed Hamed, a 36-year-old government worker, lives with his wife, three children, and two elderly parents in the Taimani district. He often gets sick from drinking contaminated water or brushing his teeth with it. "We often get sick due to contaminated water either by drinking in someone else’s house, in a restaurant, or even by brushing our teeth with the well water," he said.

The crisis is further exacerbated by Kabul’s vulnerability to climate change. "We are getting more and more rain, but less and less snow," said Najibullah Sadid, a researcher in water resource management. "That’s impacting a city which has less infrastructure to regulate flash floods. Snow was helping us, but now we have less, and that’s harming us in terms of groundwater recharge."

The Impact on Children and Women

When water runs dry, many turn to private companies or donations. Rustam Khan Taraki spends up to 30% of his income on water, mostly buying from licensed tanker sellers. For families who can’t afford this, the only option is to walk long distances to mosques for water.

Hamed, the government worker, spends hours lining up for water, and his children often skip school to carry heavy buckets up steep hills under the scorching sun. The crisis is taking a toll on the children’s future, said Von Zahn from Mercy Corps. "The hours that children should be spending in school, they are now basically spending on fetching water for their families," she said.

Women bear much of the burden of this crisis. Forced to walk for hours across Kabul to fetch water, they risk their safety under the Taliban’s oppressive rule, which requires them to have a male guardian to go outside. A 22-year-old Kabul resident, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, described the difficulties women face. "There are numerous difficulties for every woman or girl to go out alone to get water. They could be harassed or bothered on the way," she said.

Political Turmoil and Aid Cuts

Beyond the climate crisis and population growth, Kabul’s water crisis is worsened by political instability. The Taliban seized control of the country in August 2021, leading to an economic collapse as development and security assistance froze. Humanitarian aid filled some gaps, but recent cuts have made things worse.

US President Donald Trump’s decision to halt foreign aid has had crippling consequences. The freeze in USAID funds is "one of the biggest impacts," said Von Zahn. By early 2025, only about $8 million of the $264 million required for water and sanitation had been delivered.

This leaves the future of many living in Kabul uncertain. Raheela, who moved to her current neighborhood years ago, recalls when the rent was cheaper and the mosque had water. Now, she doesn’t know how much longer they can survive in the city. "We won’t have any other choice but to be displaced again," she said. "Where will we go from here? I don’t know."