If the project is implemented, it will lead to a water crisis in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The freezing of USAID aid will lead to a halt in the construction of the Kosh Tepe water utility in Afghanistan, an informed source told Izvestia. According to him, the project received covert financial support from the US Agency for International Development under the previous Afghan government, and assistance continued under the Taliban (the organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities). The project cost is $700 million, and the canal has already been built by 80%. The construction raises serious environmental and geopolitical concerns. It is conducted without control, the water channel is excavated in a primitive way, which is fraught with the destruction of the irrigation system and further environmental consequences. The withdrawal of water from the Amu Darya River, which is vital for Central Asia, will lead to a water crisis in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The financing of this project by USAID could have been aimed at destabilizing the situation in Central Asia and gaining leverage over Kabul.
Who is building a water utility in Afghanistan and why
The construction of the Kosh Tepe water utility in Afghanistan turned out to be not only an infrastructural, but also a geopolitical challenge. A project capable of redistributing the region’s water resources threatens the interests of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that its funding of $ 700 million came from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a structure whose activities are now frozen by the decision of the administration of President Donald Trump.
— USAID started financing this project under the previous government of Afghanistan, the government changed, the Taliban came, and the Americans have a completely different attitude towards the Taliban. However, the financing continued,” an informed source told Izvestia, noting that the sponsorship was hidden under a variety of sources.
Izvestia reference
After Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025, USAID’s activities were heavily criticized. The head of the White House said that the agency had lost transparency, had become a breeding ground for corruption and no longer corresponded to US foreign policy goals. This point of view was also supported by Elon Musk, who headed the new Department of Public Administration Efficiency (DOGE). Musk called USAID a “criminal organization” that bypasses American taxpayers.
The idea of irrigating desert areas in Northern Afghanistan with the waters of the Amu Darya appeared more than 50 years ago under the country’s first president, Mohammad Dawood Khan. However, these plans were disrupted by the 1979 revolution and the subsequent civil war. Consideration of the project was resumed in 2018 under former President Ashraf Ghani.
According to the project, the length of the pipeline will be 285 km, width — 100 m. According to the developers, the canal will irrigate agricultural lands in the provinces of Balkh, Jauzjan and Faryab. According to representatives of the National Development Corporation of Afghanistan (NDC), the second phase of construction of the Kosh Tepe water utility in the north of the country has already been completed by 81%, and the dam has been built by 67%. The second stage of work began in 2024, and it was planned to be completed in March 2025, but the suspension of funding may affect the further implementation of the project.
Environmental consequences of the construction of Kosh Tepe
The Amu Darya is one of the main rivers of Central Asia, which supplies water to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. However, in recent decades, its water level has dropped sharply. In the 20th century, the river fed the Aral Sea, but today there is practically no drop there.
The Kosh Tepe canal project has already caused international controversy. The main problem is the withdrawal of water from the Amu Darya River, which is vital for Central Asia. The fact is that Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are located downstream, which are already experiencing difficulties with water resources. The canal is capable of taking away 10 cubic km of water per year from neighboring countries. At the same time, in low-water years, the total volume of runoff is 40 cubic meters. km, that is, the river will become shallow by a quarter, which will lead to a deterioration of the ecological situation, drying up of reservoirs and increased drought.
The construction of Kosh Tepe disrupts the balance of water distribution. According to the Interstate Coordination Water Management Commission of Central Asia, due to the new channel, lakes in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya will receive only 30% of the required water flow. This means accelerating the process of desertification and worsening droughts.
— American taxpayers’ funds are being squandered because the project is very controversial, odious, and it is not coordinated with neighbors in the region. The Central Asian states, especially the downstream countries, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, will suffer greatly,” the source told the publication.
In addition, there is a high probability of technical problems. According to satellite images, construction is being carried out in a hurry and without proper supervision. The canal is excavated in a primitive way, without strengthening the banks, which increases the risk of water loss due to seepage into sandy soils. This is fraught with the destruction of the irrigation system and further environmental consequences.
— The quality of the construction site is, of course, rather questionable, given that it was actually dug artistically using technologies from the century before last due to the lack of modern technology and, by and large, capital from the government of Afghanistan. There have been breakthroughs. Something similar was recorded on satellite images,” Nikita Mendkovich, a political scientist and head of the Eurasian Analytical Club, told Izvestia.
According to him, this leads to a reduction in the flow in the border river, which negatively affects the water supply of downstream Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The purpose of financing the vodokanal by USAID
The decision to continue financing Kosh-Tepe through USAID is evidence of Washington’s double game.
— The withdrawal of the project was not done deliberately. The fact is that the Americans want to have leverage, in some ways they are blackmailing them, in some ways, on the contrary, they are trying to sting them,” the source said.
If we assume that Kosh Tepe was indeed considered as an instrument of geopolitical pressure, then the United States could use it as a lever of influence on several countries at once. On the one hand, the project increases the Taliban’s dependence on external financial flows, allowing Washington to maintain covert control over Kabul. On the other hand, the reduction of water resources in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan potentially creates points of tension that can be used to destabilize the region.
— In the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan itself, there is an opinion that USAID continued to support the project in order to worsen the water shortage in post—Soviet Central Asia and destabilize the situation in the region, – said Nikita Mendkovich, a political scientist.
Russia is interested in the stability of Central Asia, and the situation in the region is directly influenced by the socio-economic situation, said Omar Nessar, a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In this context, the construction of a Kosh Tepe can become a risk factor that can exacerbate water shortages and provoke tension between countries.
However, according to the expert, it is important to take into account the interests of Afghanistan itself, which is striving to develop its agricultural sector. Therefore, a key element in solving the problem should be building a dialogue between the countries of the region to find mutually acceptable mechanisms for the allocation of water resources, Omar Nessar concluded.
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https://en.iz.ru/en/1853052/albert-kalasan/money-has-flowed-away-usaid-secretly-financed-construction-water-utility-under-taliban