Nitrate contamination in groundwater of Kabul Province, Afghanistan: Reasons behind and conceptual management framework discourse

Groundwater contamination has been on the rise in Afghanistan. It has become a major concern among the policy makers. This paper aims to propose practical options for the management of nitrate contamination in one of Afghanistan’s groundwater polluted provinces, Kabul. The management framework utilized Mann-Kendall and Sen Slope tests to detect nitrate trend and geostatistical analysis option in ArcGIS 10.5 to assess the nitrate change. To explore the impact of various management options, a number of legislative documents were reviewed. The results indicate a decline in the nitrate storage of Kabul aquifers from 108 mg/L in 2005 to 0.044 mg/L in 2010. Considering the whole period of the study, the results show that the nitrate volumes remain lower than the nitrate concentration range proposed by World Health Organization (50 mg/L). Groundwater dynamics in Kabul aquifers were influenced by nitrate derived from precipitation and nitrate input from root zones in agricultural areas. Finally, different management options for groundwater pollution from nitrate and corresponding authorities, incorporated urban, rural and agriculture, were proposed. It is expected that this study will help policy makers to better manage the nitrate storage of Kabul aquifers by implementing the proposed management options.