GEOHYDROLOGICAL STUDIES OF KATAWAZ AREA, AFGHANISTAN

Abstract

Water is elixir of all life„ The arid and semi-arid regions of world, in particular, are facing severe problems of water availability for various uses. Afghanistan is especially important as it falls in the semi-arid to arid regions and it is a landlocked country of central Asia with an areal extent of about 650,000 km2. The Hindu Kush, the highest range of mountains of this country extends south-westward at varying elevations from the north-eastern part of the country for nearly 1000 km. Adjoining Afghanistan are Republic of Turkmanistan, Ozbekistan and Tajikistan to the north, the people's Republic -of China to the north-east, Pakistan to the east and south and Islamic Republic of Iran to the west. In the central part of the country, mountain ranges splay out from the Hindu kush like the fingers of a hand, with rivers such as Hari Rod, Farah Rod and Helmand occupying the intervening valleys. The semi-arid to arid continental climate of Afghanistan has forced its inhabitants for thousands of years to conserve and utilize the limited water resources to the best of their ability. The flow of the few perennial-rivers, the discharge of springs, and some of the flood-flow of rivers were captured for irrigation and domestic use.