Qargha Reservoir

Afghanistan, Afghanistan

---

Qargha Reservoir, also known as Lake Qargha, is a man‑made lake formed by the Qargha Dam on the Paghman River about 16 kilometres west of Kabul in Afghanistan. Built in the 1930s, the reservoir was originally developed for irrigation and recreation and became a popular picnic and leisure spot for Kabul residents, with facilities for boating, fishing, and nearby hotels and restaurants along its shores. The lake also supports a rainbow trout hatchery and serves as an important local fishery and potential source for drinking water, but in recent years its water level has dropped sharply—shrinking to around a third of its original size—due to climate change, drought, and sedimentation linked to land‑use changes in the surrounding catchment.