Afghanistan’s excuses not to release Iran’s fair share of joint water resources are not acceptable and Iran is still hopeful that the matter can be resolved diplomatically, the head of the Energy Ministry’s department of border rivers and joint water sources said.
“The issue is being pursued through various diplomatic channels, including talks held during the Joint Committee of Hirmand Water Commissioners meetings,” IRNA also quoted Jabbar Vatanfada as saying.
Iran has not received its fair share of water from Hirmand (known as Helmand in Afghanistan) River since the beginning of the current water year that started last September, he added.
Afghanistan’s water officials opened discharge valves at the Kamal Khan Dam on Helmand River in January and water was expected to flow into three big reservoirs in Sistan Plain called Chah-Nimeh in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province, but later Afghanistan announced that it had opened the gates not to send the Helmand’s waters across the border to reach Iran, but to irrigate agricultural land in areas surrounding the dam.
“As per the treaty, Iran should have received at least 50 million cubic meters of water by now, but it has not and Afghan officials argue that the river which carries the dam water has not been dredged for years, so water cannot move in it!” he said.
According to the official, such excuses are not justifiable, but Iran is still hopeful that diplomatic efforts could work.
“Given the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has generously helped the people of Afghanistan in several areas over the past 40 years, we expect the country to take Iran’s legitimate and legal demands into consideration,” he added.
Sistan-Baluchestan is the second largest province of Iran, bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. The region has been struggling with severe water shortages for two decades, as rainfall averages a meager 105 mm.
More than 50% of the people of the province live in rural areas. But that is fast changing, as they are abandoning their homes and villages, and moving to other parts of the country in search of work and a better life.
Water from the Helmand River in principle is shared under a 1973 treaty, which assigned Iran 800 million cubic meters of water a year. But with Afghanistan embroiled in foreign military invasions, domestic violence of terror syndicates, political infighting and civil strife for the past decades, the water supply has remained wildly erratic.
Iran and Afghanistan signed an agreement in Zabol in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province last February to reconfirm Iran’s full share of water from Hirmand (aka Helmand) River after half a century, the official said.
Kamal Khan Dam diverts large quantities of water into Afghan farmlands (mostly to plant poppies) instead of the River Delta’s wetlands where Helmand ends.
Vatanfada noted that prior to the construction of dams on Helmand River, 9 billion cubic meters of water flowed annually into Hamoun Wetlands in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, which has now declined to less than 800 mcm per annum.
“Afghan activities in the Helmand River basin should be compatible with river discharge, respect Iran’s rights and principles of environmental sustainability, which issues have so far been overlooked,” he said.
