Tashkent (AsiaNews) – The construction of the Koš-Tepa canal in Afghanistan has become one of the most hotly debated issues in Central Asia in recent years: some regard the project as a threat to the water security of the entire region, whilst others see it as the realisation of the Afghans’ legitimate right to use the resources of the Amu Darya.
The project involves the construction of a main canal 290 kilometres long, 125 metres wide at the intake and approximately eight metres deep; once completed, Afghanistan plans to develop around 550,000 hectares of new agricultural land. To become fully operational, the project will require the construction of over 500 kilometres of distribution canals, and construction costs, according to various estimates, range from $680 million to $2 billion.
Uzbek media often refer to Koš-Tepa as a Taliban project, but the idea of building it dates back to well before the Taliban came to power. The former Afghan Minister for Disaster Management, Najib Agha Fahim, states that there has been talk of building the canal for decades; the project first emerged during the presidency of Mohammad Daoud in the 1970s, and its implementation effectively began under the Western-backed Afghan government (2001–2021). In December 2018, Kabul had signed a contract with the American engineering firm Aecom to carry out a feasibility study for the project.
By August 2021, when the Taliban took control of Kabul, the project documentation for the canal was fully complete. Said Zabihullah Miri, the canal project manager, states that construction will not have a significant impact on the water level of the Amu Darya; in his view, the river possesses significant water reserves, particularly during periods of flooding and glacial melt. Kabul does, however, acknowledge that the construction of the canal could spark disputes with neighbouring countries.
Fahim believes that Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have no legal grounds to challenge the project, and argues that “Afghanistan’s right to a share of the Amu Darya’s water is guaranteed by numerous historical documents and international conventions”, citing a 1958 agreement between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, which recognised the Amu Darya as a transboundary river.
Following the collapse of the USSR, the Central Asian countries retained the Soviet system of water distribution through the 1992 Almaty Agreement, which maintains the water usage quotas in force during the Soviet era. Almost half is allocated to Uzbekistan and the rest is divided amongst the other Central Asian countries, but Afghanistan is not a party to this agreement.
The Amu Darya is considered the river with the greatest water volume in Central Asia; its length, including the Panj, is approximately 2,400 kilometres and its annual flow is comparable to that of the Nile, namely around 75 cubic kilometres of water per year. The Afghan side emphasises that around 30 per cent of the natural flow of the Amu Darya basin originates within its territory, and it is anticipated that between 6 and 10 cubic kilometres of water per year will be utilised via the Koš-Tepa project.
Despite alarming predictions on social media and in the mainstream press, Tashkent has, however, abandoned its hardline rhetoric regarding the construction of the canal: in the spring of 2025, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed an agreement on the joint management of water resources in the Amu Darya basin.
The Uzbek Minister for Water Resources, Šavkat Khamrajev, stated that “to tell the truth, the Afghans are our relatives, and they too have the right to draw water from the Amu Darya. Should we take up arms and go to war? In reality, we are building relationships and engaging in dialogue”. Much will also depend on maintaining water levels and agricultural production techniques, as well as on Central Asia’s willingness to accept Afghanistan simply as a neighbouring country.
