The Amu Darya: water and dams in the countries that dispute it

The countries in the dispute over the Amu Darya are Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Across Turkmenistan, 97% of renewable water comes from other countries (FAO AQUASTAT, 2023); Global Dam Watch lists 6 large dams on the river and its main tributaries in these countries.

Source: WRI Aqueduct, accessed on 25 Oct 2026, aqueduct.wri.org (CC BY 4.0)2023Updated 25 Oct 2026

The Amu Darya involves Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. On 18 February 1992, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan agreed in Almaty to keep the water allocations already in force and set up the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination. Afghanistan is not a party to that agreement. In November 2018, Tajikistan started the first generating unit of the Rogun hydropower plant on the Vakhsh, a tributary of the Amu Darya. In March 2022, Afghanistan's authorities began building the Qosh Tepa canal from the Amu Darya, with a planned length of 285 kilometres (2022).

Drafted with AI from cited sources and reviewed by the editor

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Water stress in the countries that dispute the river

Under 10%10–20%20–40%40–80%Over 80%

Not in this dispute

Large dam (size: reservoir capacity)

Borders show who controls an area in practice, as drawn by Natural Earth. Disputed borders are dashed. Borders shown do not imply endorsement. How we treat borders

Disputed rivers

Amu Darya

Dams in Global Dam Watch6Rogun, 13.3 km³

Countries in the disputeNational water stress (WRI Aqueduct baseline, 1979–2019), 0–5: the basin can differ

Dams are those in Global Dam Watch (version 1.0) on the river and its main tributaries, matched by the river names it records. It lists large dams built by about 2022, so the newest are missing. It does not mark dams that have since been destroyed; this site marks those it knows of beside their former reservoir capacity. Water stress is a national average; the river’s own basin can differ.

Source: WRI Aqueduct, accessed on 25 Oct 2026, aqueduct.wri.org (CC BY 4.0)baseline 1979–2019; projection 2050Updated 25 Oct 2026

Source: FAO AQUASTAT2023Updated 25 Oct 2026

Source: Global Dam WatchUpdated 25 Oct 2026

Countries in the dispute

Each country’s water stress on WRI Aqueduct’s 1979–2019 baseline and projected for 2050, the share of its renewable water that flows in from other countries (FAO AQUASTAT), and its large dams on the Amu Darya and main tributaries (Global Dam Watch). Listed roughly upstream first.
Country	Water stress, 1979–2019	Projected water stress, 2050	Renewable water from abroad, 2023	Dams on the river
Afghanistan	3.4	3.6	29%	0
Tajikistan	2.3	2.7	17%	4
Uzbekistan	3.6	3.8	80%	2
Turkmenistan	3.7	3.8	97%	0

Source: WRI Aqueduct, accessed on 25 Oct 2026, aqueduct.wri.org (CC BY 4.0)baseline 1979–2019; projection 2050Updated 25 Oct 2026

Source: FAO AQUASTAT2023Updated 25 Oct 2026

Source: Global Dam WatchUpdated 25 Oct 2026

Dams in Global Dam Watch

The 6 dams in Global Dam Watch on the Amu Darya and its main tributaries in these countries, largest reservoir first.

Rogun	Vakhsh	Tajikistan	13.3 km³	1989
Nurek	Vakhsh	Tajikistan	10.5 km³	1980
Talimarjan	Amudaria	Uzbekistan	1.5 km³	1985
Yuzhnosurkhansk	Surkhandaria	Uzbekistan	800 million m³	1967
Sangtuda I	Vakhsh	Tajikistan	258 million m³	2009
Golovnaya	Vakhsh	Tajikistan	95 million m³	1963

Source: Global Dam Watch (GRanD)Updated 25 Oct 2026

The Amu Darya: water and dams in the countries that dispute it

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