A Loss of Ecological Security: The Demise of the Sistan Basin

Apr 29, 2022 | Laura Jean Palmer-Moloney
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Water is one of the most critical factors for regional security and stability because it is multidimensional.

In my capacity as Senior Advisor on Water to Regional Command Southwest (RCSW) in Afghanistan from 2011-2012, helping to support stability operations (e.g., irrigation, hydropower, and development), I saw firsthand that the Sistan Basin in Afghanistan’s Helmand River watershed is one of these environments.

In some respects, the basin’s current crisis has been more than half a century in the making. 

Failure to determine the water balance (the flow of water in and out of a system) and factor in the high demand of irrigation water use is partly to blame for the ecological destruction and disruption of the hamoun wetlands. Increased evaporation caused by hotter temperatures and stronger winds, combined with less than normal precipitation associated with climate change, has further reduced available water in the watershed.

As of April 2022, there are conflicting reports on whether water will be held to ransom or shared with Iran according to the terms of The Afghan-Iranian Helmand River-Water Treaty of 1973. Yet the ability of the Taliban government to do either will depend in part on water availability in a system, which is more often than not operating at a deficit.