The opening of the Kamal Khan Dam in March 2021 reignited an previous dispute between Iran and Afghanistan over the allocation of water within the Helmand River. The river is taken into account to be one among Afghanistan’s pure lifelines. It’s the nation’s longest and runs into Hamoun Lake, which lies on the border between the 2 neighbors.
On the inauguration of the Kamal Khan Dam, then-President Ashraf Ghani said, as summarized by media on the time, that “Afghanistan would no longer give free water to anyone, so Iran should provide fuel to Afghans in exchange for water.”
Lower than six months later, Afghanistan got here underneath the management of the Taliban.
In accordance with Kabul, the dam was constructed to resolve most of the area’s huge infrastructural and agricultural challenges. Nonetheless, Tehran has tried to halt its building for years, sustaining that it will interrupt the water provide that feeds the Hamoun wetlands.
In late July 2022, Iran’s International Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian warned his counterpart, Afghanistan’s Amir Khan Muttaqi, that prohibiting Tehran from its rightful entry to the Helmand River will solely trigger additional pressure to an already splintered relationship. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, too, urged severe motion.
This forwards and backwards circles a essential query: Is Afghanistan legally permitted to divert the pure course of the Helmand River? Earlier than we start, let’s underscore the important thing components of the prevailing bilateral accord.
An Overview of the Helmand River Treaty
In accordance with the Helmand River Treaty of 1973, Afghanistan should ship water from the Helmand River to Iran at a fee of twenty-two cubic meters per second each year with a further 4 cubic meters per second for “goodwill and brotherly relations.” This is able to provide Iran with an annual common of 820 million cubic meters or 556,000 acre-feet underneath regular situations.
However though the treaty ensures Iran’s entry to the Helmand River, Article V provides Afghanistan full rights to the remaining water provide. Article V begins by stipulating Iran’s rightful allocation as specified within the earlier articles. Nonetheless, it continues by stating that Afghanistan “shall retain all rights to the balance of the water of the Helmand River and may make such use or disposition of the water as it chooses.”
The ultimate paragraph of the article emphasizes that Iran is simply entitled to the required quantity of water agreed upon, regardless of whether or not “additional amounts of water may be available” and should “be put to beneficial use.”
Thus, Afghanistan unequivocally has unilateral rights over the remaining water provide of the Helmand River. Which means that it has the facility to implement agricultural, hydroelectric, and reservoir initiatives because it sees match.
Afghanistan’s sole duty is to to not pollute the water or take any motion that may deprive Iran of its water rights completely or partially. Article V should be learn together with Article II (Iran’s water rights), III (month-to-month distribution), and IV (i.e., local weather change). An argument primarily based on the primary paragraph of Article V with out contemplating the complete context of the Treaty and its different provisions will finish in unreasonable conclusions.
Dam Improvement in a Shared Watercourse Beneath Customary Worldwide Regulation
That the Helmand River Treaty permits Afghanistan the proper to pursue developmental initiatives over the remaining waters is incontrovertible. Nonetheless, the query stays whether or not the event of dams or canals is permissible underneath customary worldwide regulation.
The Helmand River is taken into account to be a global or transboundary watercourse. The 2 neighbors are due to this fact legally obligated to share the river’s waters. The precept of equitable and cheap utilization and the no-harm rule are considered the cornerstones of worldwide water regulation and have been included within the U.N. Watercourse Conference in 1997.
In accordance with the precept of equitable and cheap utilization, all states are obligated to “use an international watercourse in a manner that is equitable and reasonable vis-a-vis other states sharing the watercourse.” The no-harm rule requires states to not trigger important hurt to different states. Extra exactly, “riparian countries should not use their territorial waters in ways that cause damage and undesirable impact to downstream co-riparian countries.”
Certainly, states have a proper to an equitable share of a shared river. However the time period “equitable” should not be confused with “equal.” Each state has the proper to make use of water equitably, however is just not entitled to an equal share of the water. Due to this fact, underneath customary worldwide regulation, it’s permissible for Afghanistan to develop initiatives on the Helmand River, as long as they don’t trigger important environmental injury to its neighbors.
It must be said that with out clearly understanding the precept of equitable and cheap utilization, each exercise will likely be deemed a violation. Such a strict interpretation is neither supported by state follow nor by case regulation.
To conclude, neither the Helmand River Treaty nor customary worldwide regulation denies Afghanistan the proper to assemble the Kamal Khan Dam. It’s not a violation of the 2 aforementioned elements of worldwide regulation. As a substitute, the Helmand River Treaty provides Afghanistan an absolute proper to make use of the remaining water of the Helmand River because it chooses.
What Must Be Performed?
Clearly, the passage of the Helmand River Treaty in 1973 didn’t result in a peaceable decision between Iran and Afghanistan. The phrases of the settlement have repeatedly been violated, in response to Tehran. However Kabul has all the time insisted that these claims are baseless.
On many events, Iran complained that the correct allocation of water was not delivered. This grievance was made at a time when the Helmand River Basin was underneath drought, which severely diminished the river’s stream. These complaints should not new; nevertheless, they should be addressed.
To resolve this deadlock, Afghanistan and Iran should collectively decide locations of supply and assemble joint hydrometric stations as outlined underneath Article III of the treaty. Joint hydrometric stations will settle the problem of the quantity of water that’s required to be delivered to Iran. Every problem has been addressed by the Helmand River Commissioners, who’ve convened a minimum of 25 occasions previously 20 years.
Iran has all the time been towards the constructing of joint hydrometric stations. The reason being that Iran had been receiving extra water throughout regular and above-normal water years. The development of joint hydrometric stations would regulate their water share extra strictly.
An settlement was reached to construct joint hydrometric stations within the twenty first assembly of the Joint Committee of Commissioners of Helmand River. Nonetheless, it stays on paper solely. Equally, in August 2022, Afghanistan and Iran once more agreed to a timeline for the development of joint hydrometric stations. However expertise reveals that such a challenge will take years to finish.
Additionally underway for Afghanistan is the rebuilding of the Dehrawood Hydrometric Station, which was destroyed in 2021. The Dehrawood Hydrometric Station will regulate and monitor Iran’s share of the Helmand River.
Within the meantime, Iran ought to cease digging wells and putting in heavy-duty water pumps alongside the river. Iran has expanded its irrigation and put in pumps, via which it diverts 26 million cubic meters of water yearly to Zahedan. Such initiatives will solely improve Iran’s water demand. Moreover, Afghanistan ought to register the Gowd-e-Zera lake as a global wetland as it’s thought of to be part of the Hamouns.
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