Kabul Edges Toward Disaster As It Becomes First Modern Capital City To Run Out Of Water

Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is on the verge of becoming the first modern capital city to run out of water, according to Yahoo/CNN. 

Residents across the city are in a daily scramble to find enough to drink, cook, and wash. “We don’t have access to (drinking) water at all,” one woman told CNN. “Water shortage is a huge problem affecting our daily life.”

The Yahoo/CNN report says that years of population growth, over-extraction, and climate change have pushed Kabul’s groundwater to crisis levels. Nearly half of its boreholes have already gone dry. According to Mercy Corps, the city now pumps 44 million cubic meters more water each year than nature can replace.

And the water that is available isn’t safe. Up to 80% of Kabul’s groundwater is contaminated, leading to widespread illness. Residents like Ahmad Yasin have spent months and their life savings digging wells—only to find the water undrinkable. “We boil the well water for extended periods of time, let it cool and then drink it,” he said.

For many, water tankers are the only option—if they can afford them. Some families spend as much as 30% of their income on water. Others walk for hours to public wells or mosques, sometimes pulling their children out of school to help haul heavy buckets.

“The hours that children should be spending in school, they are now basically spending on fetching water,” said Marianna Von Zahn, Mercy Corps’ Afghanistan director of programs. “These harmful coping strategies further deepen the cycle of poverty.”

Women face even greater obstacles. Under Taliban rule, many are barred from leaving home without a male guardian, making a simple task like fetching water dangerous. “They could be harassed or bothered on the way,” one 22-year-old woman told CNN.

Years of mismanagement have collided with worsening drought and flash floods. Kabul used to rely on snowmelt to replenish its aquifers, but warmer winters now bring more rain and less snow—leading to flooding instead of groundwater recharge.

Aid groups are sounding the alarm. If trends continue, Kabul could run out of groundwater by 2030. But efforts to prevent that outcome are being choked off by funding cuts. This year, only $8 million of the $264 million needed for water and sanitation programs has been delivered, according to Mercy Corps.

“Collapsing local systems, frozen funding, and growing regional friction — all while ordinary Afghans face a worsening crisis every day,” Von Zahn said.