Identification of groundwater potential zones in Kabul River Basin, Afghanistan

Groundwater (GW) plays a vital role in the socio-economic growth of Kabul River Basin (KRB) in Afghanistan. Since the GW resources in the basin have not been properly managed, there is a need for sound strategies by first identifying the potential GW zones. This study assesses the potential groundwater zones for the KRB using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In this direction, seven different thematic maps of rainfall, lithology, land use/land cover, slope, soil, drainage density, and lineament density are first prepared using the GIS. The AHP is then employed to assess the weights of different themes. Finally, the weighted overlay option in the GIS is used to generate the map of the groundwater potential zones (GWPZ). The Very Good zones are mostly located in the downstream and central parts of the KRB, covering around 1543 km2 area. The Good and the Poor zones are found to be randomly distributed, covering about 39 444 km2 and 27 658 km2, respectively. The Very Poor zones are located in the west, southwest, and in some central parts of the basin, covering about 2272 km2. It is found that only 18% of the total average annual precipitated water of 6.88 × 109 m3/year infiltrates into the subsurface and ultimately contributes to recharging of the groundwater. •Of the total precipitated water, only 18% contributes to the groundwater.•The creation of reservoirs and/or digging of pits, especially in snowy areas, would be useful to recharge the groundwater.•The gentle to steep slopes regions are deemed to be fair areas for the groundwater recharge processes.•The good and the very good zones would have a key role in the future expansion of drinking water and irrigation development.•The GWPZ map could also be applied for drought risk reduction in the KRB.