Struggling over water, losing it through evaporation: The case of Afghanistan and Iran

Nevermann, Hannes, Madani, Kaveh, Zampieri, Matteo, Hoteit, Ibrahim and Shokri, Nima, (2024). Struggling over water, losing it through evaporation: The case of Afghanistan and Iran. Journal of Environmental Management, 375 n/a-n/a
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  • Sub-type Journal article
    Author Nevermann, Hannes
    Madani, Kaveh
    Zampieri, Matteo
    Hoteit, Ibrahim
    Shokri, Nima
    Title Struggling over water, losing it through evaporation: The case of Afghanistan and Iran
    Appearing in Journal of Environmental Management
    Volume 375
    Publication Date 2024-01-29
    Place of Publication Oxford
    Publisher Elsevier Ltd.
    Start page n/a
    End page n/a
    Language eng
    Abstract Prolonged droughts and rising water demand have worsened water disputes in the transboundary Helmand basin, shared by Afghanistan and Iran. While both countries have built water storage reservoirs to mitigate water shortages, evaporative losses from these reservoirs reduce their effectiveness. This issue intensifies challenges over water shortages in the region without reliable monitoring data. In this study, reanalysis and remote sensing data was used to calculate the rate of water evaporation from the major water reservoirs located in Helmand basin. Additionally, globally available moisture trajectory datasets were used to analyze where the evaporated water from these major storage reservoirs eventually falls as precipitation. Our main focus was on quantifying how much of this water precipitates outside the Helmand Basin. Our results indicate that evaporative losses of blue water from reservoirs in this transboundary river basin have reached to 284 million cubic meters in 2023. Additionally, our results indicate the presence of a teleconnection, whereby a significant portion of the water evaporated from these reservoirs is transported and then precipitates outside the Helmand Basin, reaching up to an annual average of 92%. The largest portion of this evaporated water was received as precipitation by India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China, accounting for 25%, 19%, 16% and 6%, respectively. This study provides a real-world example of how improved water intelligence and transparency, achieved through remote sensing data and modelling, can support water diplomacy and conflict resolution in transboundary basins.
    Keyword Transboundary basins
    Helmand basin
    Evaporation from water reservoirs
    Water diplomacy
    Water management
    Copyright Holder Elsevier B.V.
    Copyright Year 2025
    Copyright type Fair use permitted
    DOI 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124319
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    Created: Tue, 11 Feb 2025, 00:54:20 JST by Miriam Aczel on behalf of UNU INWEH