Partnering with Afghan Universities to Use Satellite Data for Water Management
Following four decades of conflict, Afghanistan faces environmental challenges on many fronts, including a growing water crisis across the country. Less than a third of the country’s population has access to clean drinking water, causing thousands of deaths each year due to contamination and poor sanitation. Water resources are under severe stress due to recurrent drought, excessive water extraction for agriculture, and poor infrastructure. Climate change is also adding to these pressures, accelerating the melting of glaciers in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which has long been the country’s main source of water. Without substantial improvement in the development and management of Afghanistan’s water resources, this crisis will only deepen. Students at Kabul University analyzing and generating useful climatic and hydrographic information for water resource management using GIS and RS applications. A key step in addressing this problem is accessing reliable data on water resources to guide the development of a...