WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN: LARGE, REGIONAL (HYDROCRATIC) DAMS OR SMALL, COMMUNITY (GRASSROOTS) DAMS?

With the current decline of US stability gains in Iraq, existing nation-building efforts in war-torn Afghanistan warrant a second look. Part of these efforts is focused on developing water security, which the Afghanistan Millennium Development Goals Report ranks as the primary concern. Some 80% of the population of Afghanistan lives subsistence, rural lifeways where their ability to control and manage the annual, ephemeral snowmelt runoff from the Hindu Kush Mountains is poorly developed. The proposed US strategy of “securing water” resources in Afghanistan is to provide monetary and technical support in a top-down, big-government style. Based on USAID’s plan for Afghanistan’s water sector development, over 71% of their requested $2.095 billion is assigned to four large dams. While only 6% ($0.125 billion), at lower priority, is for smaller, community-level dams (<10m high). This is the converse of what has been shown to be the effective mode of progress in late-developing countries—bottom-up, community-driven projects that are economically sustainable and socially acceptable. Large-dam infrastructure is provided by and controlled by parties who are likely unaware of the needs of the communities they claim to be supporting; moreover, these projects cut across tribal/religious boundaries, can be used as “weapons” and are difficult to sustain and maintain without donor funding. Small-scale, farmer-managed irrigation projects, such as delay-action dams and check dams are cost-effective, manageable and equitable. Small-scale projects are not a panacea, however, for if implemented in the “top-down” fashion they are typically unsuccessful and viewed by the local populace as something imposed on them. Government assistance is required, nonetheless, to provide an enabling environment (e.g., infrastructure, credit facilities, extension services and legal support). To help promote stability in Afghanistan, traditional practices should be supplemented and encouraged with projects sited in appropriate agro-hydro locations in existing bases of community cooperation (e.g., community centers, mosques).