Kabul faces water crisis as drought, population strain supply A shortage of rain, a booming population and wasteful consumption have drained Kabul's water basin and sparked a race to the bottom as households and businesses bore deeper and deeper wells in search of the precious resource. Snow has fallen in the city this month but it is not nearly enough to solve the water shortage -- in some areas the level has dropped 20 metres in the past year. IMAGES & SOUNDBITES. REFILE TO ADD TEXT STORY.