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Afghanistan

Remote Hydrogeological Assessment- Badghis Province, Afghanistan (10th December 2019)

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BACKGROUND

Badghis Province, north-west Afghanistan, is a drought prone region. This has led to recent and repeated displacement of thousands of families. Badghis is also prone to flash flooding associated with early summer snow melt (WVI, 2018 and WVI, 2014).

Between September 2018 and January 2019, 18,000 civilians were displaced from Badghis Province into Herat city. Approximately 90% of these displacements were associated with drought and c. 10% associated with conflict (IOM, 2019). From January to June 2019 the WASH cluster provided water to approximately 91,150 beneficiaries within the Badghis Province (Afghanistan WASH Cluster, 2019).

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has identified that there is a need to build the resilience of these areas against drought, particularly in areas where drought-displaced families are returning. Water resource availability is challenging in Badghis Province due to ephemeral flow in many watercourses, water quality issues and deep aquifer systems. NRC requested Groundwater Relief to carry out a preliminary regional hydrogeological desk study to investigate the potential availability of potable groundwater across the province and to advise on potential solutions to improve water security. The areas of interest highlighted by NRC are within five districts in the west of the province, namely:

  1. Bala-Murghab District (, Small Bazartoo and Chapchal)
  2. Muqur District (Totra shaikh, Jafary, Sahang Hatish, Said Mohammad village)
  3. Ab Kamari District (Maidaha ghul)
  4. Qadis District (Zone Zoria, Chaghak village, Mir ghiase, Khojaha)
  5. Qala-i-Naw District (Kata Chushma area, Zaimati, Padai Nokdari)