User:GeoMadTraveller/sandbox

This is my sandbox. This is where I draft content first.

Lessons learned from this disaster
The underlying cause of increased levels of flash flooding is broadly accepted to be driven by climate change, as changing weather patterns create longer droughts, making the dry land impenetrable to heavy monson rains. In addition, the natural and human-created causes that exacerbate the impact of such floods have also been known since at least 2011, when the Afghanistan Strategic National Action Plan (SNAP) for Disaster Risk Reduction: Towards Peace and Stable Development was published.

Long term flood prevention for the Kabul River Basin is more about evening out the flow of water thoughout the year, rather than reducing it overall, and one proposal is to build a series of dams on both the Afghanistan and Pakistan sides of the Kabul River Basin at an estimated cost of $15Bn. According to World Bank estimates, the projects would have an anticipated annual return of $1Bn, making the payback period for the infrastructure investment 15 years. In the context of the political reality between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as the recent return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, it is not currently known if a project of this scale is feasible.

Measures that could reduce the likelihood or severity of flooding include limiting land expansion for agriculture and introducing more localized, targeted water management infrastructure. Measures that could reduce the impact of flooding include rebuilding properties outside of the flood risk areas and improving infrastructure. Weak governance in Afghanistan is one factor why these urban planning initiatives may continue to be neglected. Flood prevention measures are not currently mentioned on the Programs and Projects section of the Charikar Municipality website, which does reference commercial development and road insfrastructure projects.