Analysis of the effects of Afghanistan Salma Dam on water stresses in Mashhad

Afghanistan's attitude towards dam construction and water infrastructure projects is from two aspects: First, compensating for the deficiencies in the development of water, agricultural and economic infrastructures that have suffered stagnation and backwardness during the years of war, occupation and destruction, and Second, the application of hydro hegemony policy (instrumental role of water) as a part of hydro political, geopolitical policy (water against immigrants and water against oil) and Afghanistan's foreign policy in political and diplomatic exchanges with two neighboring countries, Iran and Pakistan; As a landlocked country. The main source of water supply in Mashhad is mainly underground sources. The main source of water supply in Mashhad is mainly underground sources, however, climatic changes (drought), the state of internal resources, and on the other hand, the continuous growth of the population (and in proportion to the growth of demand), have made water supply dependent on external sources. With the construction of Selma Dam on the main branch of Harirud, the water flow to Dosti Dam has decreased by 40%. The investigations of this article show that the water shortage crisis in Northeast Iran, It has geopolitical, social, political-security, economic, environmental and etc. consequences.

This research is taken into account as descriptive – analytical based on nature and method. Information on the research has been gathered in the attributive method and by referring to valid sources.

General view of the hydrology of Mashhad In total, there are more than 736,000 agricultural wells in the country, and 320,000 of them are illegal. Of this amount, 4144 wells belong to the Mashhad plain, most of which are in a supercritical condition. Part of Mashhad's surface water supply is provided by 24 rivers. There are four rivers in Ahmadabad sector, six rivers in Torgabeh sector, four rivers in Razavieh sector, six rivers in Central sector and four rivers belonging to Kalat sector. Most of these rivers are in critical condition. According to the agreements made between the governments of Iran and Turkmenistan, the manner and extent of using the water of Harirrud River and Dosti Dam have been determined. However, there is no agreement with the Afghan government in this regard. Undoubtedly, the construction and completion of water structures on Harirrud, despite a legal vacuum, regardless of the water share and the understanding of the water bottlenecks of the three countries in the common catchment area, will bring water tensions in the future. In total, the tensions caused by water shortage and dehydration in Mashhad metropolis are as follows:-Today, water has emerged as a geopolitical issue, and it affects state relations. Afghanistan's rulers of all orientations know that through water control, they will be able to control their neighbors; in this case, Afghanistan looks at Hirmand and Harirrud rivers as a political tool, and it has based foreign policy doctrine towards Iran and Pakistan on this basis.
-Water, as a rare and non-renewable resource, is the main factor of life and development and the possibility of collision of groups; it increases people and population centers together.
-The security-political tensions of water shortage in Mashhad metropolis are caused by two factors: the high rate of Mashhad's urban population, the reverse migration of villagers and suburban towns to Mashhad metropolis, and unforeseen expenses caused by the rate of the pilgrim population.
-Environmental stresses caused by water shortage in various ways, such as climate change in the region (such as the Hamon area), storms, intensification of fine dust, subsidence, emptying of underground aquifers, intensification of diseases, etc. The climate of Khorasan Razavi, according to the condition of underground water and superficial and in spite of Afghanistan's continuous dam constructions, is susceptible to very acute and severe environmental crises.
- The agricultural sector, as the largest consumer of water in the world, provides food security. Moreover, any change in climatic conditions and access to the required water and threats to the water security of the countries will also be threatened. In general, due to the lack of water, the amount of production of some products will decrease, and that is why we are facing food security.

Problems related to access and lack of water include a wide range of environmental, social, security, political and economic issues such as climate change, migration from the village to the city and the depopulation of border areas, competition and conflict between different social groups, problems related to the field of health is like all kinds of diseases, food insecurity, reduction of quality of life, mental and psychological problems, etc. The water crisis in Mashhad metropolis is a smaller picture of the big picture of the water crisis in Iran. To advance water goals, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in common water areas, while adopting active water diplomacy with its neighbors and establishing an agreement, should give legal and international legitimacy to this issue. However, this research believes that due to the inherent nature of competition over vital resources and the selfish views of upstream countries, expecting water supply from outside the basin is somewhat unrealistic. In general, the focus should be on low-cost and possible methods, for example, reforming the agricultural model within the framework of the principle of sustainable development, collection of runoff water, and utilization and recovery of wastewater and greywater. With these methods, spending less on the coast (compared to sea transfer plans, inter-regional transfer, importation, etc.), it is possible to compensate for part of the country's water tensions.

There is no funding support. Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.   Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.   Acknowledgments  We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.