Kajaki Dam
The Kajakai Dam ( Band-e Kajaki, Bandi - Kadzhakay ) dammed the river since 1953 Helmund in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The reservoir extends to the north-eastern neighboring Uruzgan province. The dam is used for irrigation of 142,000 ha of agricultural land, of which about 90 % pasture. It protects against flooding and supports the drinking water supply.
The outflow of Hilmand at the Kajakai Dam in the spring of the highest. Over the years, there are big differences. Measured values are available for 1953 until 1979. Thereafter, the average outflow varies in April over the years 1953 to 1979 between 10 m³ / s and 114 m³ / s, and in September from 2.2 m³ / s and 14.2 m³ / s The 1999-2005 continuing drought could not be intercepted by the Kajakai Dam. In particular, the Sistanbecken at the 500 km downstream of the borderland with Iran was hardly yet reached the river Hilmand.
Power station
In 1975 with the help of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ), a hydroelectric power plant (2 * 16.5 MW) was installed. A further extension was no longer possible because of the Afghan civil war and Soviet intervention. Since October 2002, the hydropower plant will be renovated and expanded to a capacity of 51.6 MW. The planned completion by 2007 is delayed because of the fighting with the Taliban (see also: Operation Achilles ).
According to a study from January 2004 to the future energy supply in Afghanistan only 234,000 customers were connected to the public electricity grid, 30 % of them in Kabul, and only 6% of the population had electricity. It is therefore planned to 50 with an additional hydroelectric power plant " Kajakai II" performance - to increase to 100 MW. For this purpose, the dam must be increased. The U.S. Geological Survey examined in September 2007 with a simulation of the water balance, the effects of an increase in the storage target of currently 1033.5 m to 1045 m.
Political conflict
The outflow of the river Hilmand is a more than 100 years of permanent conflict between Iran and Afghanistan, which has not been solved even after 1973 contracted 26 m³ / s. Iran complained on 20 September 2001 in writing to the Secretary General of the United Nations. According to a study in July 2000 at the Kajakai Dam and the river upstream hydrometric station in the district of Uruzgan province Dihrawud the dam should have been closed. The United Nations initiated in 2006 a joint GEF project.