News Alert: New Report Warns Afghanistan’s Water Crisis is Spreading Beyond Kabul Amid Mass Returns

October 08, 2025

KABUL – Afghanistan is on the brink of a nationwide water emergency as millions of forcibly returned Afghans from Iran and Pakistan strain fragile water systems, a new Mercy Corps report warns.  Crisis Compounded: Afghanistan’s Returnees Face an Escalating Water Emergency reveals that as Kabul races toward running out of water by 2030, provinces like Herat and Kandahar are already facing worsening water shortages with dire humanitarian consequences.   

Since January 2025, more than 2.6 million Afghans—most forcibly deported from neighboring Iran and Pakistan—have returned to a country already reeling from drought, political instability, economic collapse, and declining international aid, with nearly 6 million total returnees expected by the end of the year. 

Based on a field survey of returnee households in Herat and Kandahar and extensive secondary research, the report finds: 

  • Over 75% of households say accessing clean water is “difficult” or “very difficult.” 

  • 70% report worsening water availability in just the last six months. 

  • 45% of households face recurring illnesses linked to unsafe water. 

  • Women and children are most at risk, given increased exposure to disease and danger of violence or exploitation while sourcing water.  

  • 60% of households in Kandahar say the cost to purchase bottled or trucked water is financially crushing.  

Marianna Von Zahn, Mercy Corps Director of Programs and Country Representative for Afghanistan, says: 

“Kabul’s looming water crisis was just the beginning. Across Afghanistan, water sources are already drying up, and millions of returnees are pushing fragile systems past the breaking point. Without urgent action, water scarcity risks becoming the next driver of instability in the region. 

“Afghanistan is being pushed deeper into poverty as thousands of returnees cross the border each day with nothing. Families arrive hungry and homeless, overwhelming communities that already lack shelter, water, and healthcare. With aid slashed and prices soaring, poverty is spiraling out of control, and millions risk being left with no means to survive.” 


The report warns that water costs in urban centers are punishingly high and tensions are growing over shared water sources. Meanwhile, rural families are confronted with drying borewells due to recurrent drought and over-extraction. Despite the escalating emergency, most communities surveyed report little to no awareness of humanitarian or government water support. 

Mercy Corps is urging swift action—both to help families meet their immediate water needs with tools like filtration systems, safe water storage, and cash assistance, and to strengthen water systems and stabilize groundwater extraction so communities aren’t left on the brink year after year. 

 

Notes to editors: 

  • Mercy Corps is working in Herat to scale up its humanitarian response to support Afghan returnees and the communities where they are arriving. Since June 2025, Mercy Corps has begun supporting over 300,000 returnees with cash assistance, water and sanitation services, and household/shelter kits at key border points.   

  • In Kandahar, Mercy Corps has already been rehabilitating water networks, upgrading sanitation facilities, and providing hygiene kits. Additionally, cash-for-work activities like cleaning canals to improve irrigation systems are  providing an income source to support livelihoods for both returnees and host community members. Mercy Corps has supported nearly 223,000 people arriving from Pakistan with cash, livelihoods, and water and sanitation services between January and May 2025.  

  • The report is available here to download. 


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