The Politics of Water Security between Afghanistan and Iran in Hirmand wetland

Increasing development and water consumption in upstream Afghanistan negatively affects water supply to Iran, thereby exacerbating latent tensions between the two countries. Iran perceives the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Afghan side of the basins as a direct security threat .There is no active agreement between Iran and Afghanistan over the management of shared water resources in the Helmand and Harirod-Murghab river basins. It is unlikely these points of friction will be resolved without concerted and proactive collaboration between the two countries. In addition to political tensions, climactic changes alter patterns of water flow and availability in the shared basins, leading some farmers to claim that insufficient water supply encourages them to plant poppy, a hardy crop. Increasing human strain on the Sistan wetlands due to mass migrations is unsustainable and may lead to a major environmental disaster. The strategy recommends developing monitoring systems and databases, identifying historic hydrometeorological baseline data, building capacity in water management and irrigation efficiency, creating an international support network for negotiations, and establishing a transboundary commission.