Groundwater Sustainability in Afghanistan: Challenges and Opportunities for AI-Enabled Management

Abstract

 Groundwater is the most dependable freshwater source for much of Afghanistan, yet its sustainability is increasingly threatened by over-abstraction, declining recharge, contamination, weak monitoring systems, and fragmented governance. This article presents a critical narrative review of groundwater sustainability in Afghanistan, with particular attention to the Kabul Basin, where pressure on aquifer systems is especially severe. Rather than adopting a systematic review design, the study uses a transparent narrative-review approach to synthesize peer-reviewed studies, technical reports, and policy-relevant publications across five analytical dimensions: groundwater quantity, groundwater quality, hydroclimatic stressors, governance and monitoring capacity, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence (AI) in groundwater management. The review shows that Afghanistan’s groundwater crisis is driven by the interaction of rapid urbanization, climate variability, inadequate sanitation, institutional fragility, and limited hydrogeological data. The article further argues that AI-based tools, when combined with remote sensing, community-centered monitoring, and institutional reform, can strengthen groundwater assessment and decision support in data-scarce environments. The paper concludes that sustainable groundwater management in Afghanistan requires technological innovation to be embedded within stronger governance, better data systems, and context-sensitive implementation.