The Khulm River (alternate spelling: Kholm; alternate name: Tashqurghan River) is a river of northern-central Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. In its upper course, it passes through Khulm and Haybak, today in Balkh Province

Balkh Province

Balkh is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country and its name derives from the ancient city of Balkh, near the modern town...

. The Khulm is a tributary to the Oxus basin. Its source is located to the north of the city of Khulm. Further downstream, it passes through the city of Samangan

Samangan

Samangan is a provincial town, medieval caravan stop, and the headquarters of the Samangan Province in the district of the same name in the northern part of Afghanistan...

 and Samangan Province

Samangan Province

Samangan is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The province covers and has a population of approximately 313,211, as of 2006.Its capital, Samangan, is known for its ancient ruins including, notably, the Takht e Rostam...

. The Khulm River forms the western border of Kunduz Province.

Geography

The mountains are characterized as rocky arid

Arid

A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...

ity as they extend from the Koh-i-Baba

Koh-i-Baba

The Baba mountain range is a western extension of the Hindu Kush, and the origin of all three of Afghanistan’s major river systems, the Kabul, the Hilmand-Arghandab, and the Hari River. It is crowned by Foladi peak rising 4951 m; 16,244 ft...

 to Khulm River. On occasion, the landscape turns into trenched valleys engulfed with vegetation. The river rocks are composed of sandstone and limestone.

The Khulm River is one of the tributaries of the Amu Darya River, a major river in Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

. It is known as a “blind river” or “natural river” as it dries up due to local use within its basin boundary and does not reach the Amu Darya, except during exceptional high flow years. The Khulm River originates in the Kara-Kotal pass and flows through gorges and then emerges into a wide valley near the Tashkurgan town. The river raising at an elevation of 3,600 m has a total length of about 230 km. It drains a catchment area of 8,400 km² with the annual runoff estimates varying from 58.2 to 67 million m³ by different assessors. The road between Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif follows the course of the river.
At the junction of the Bamian and Badakhshan

Badakhshan

Badakhshan is an historic region comprising parts of what is now northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan. The name is retained in Badakhshan Province which is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the far northeast of Afghanistan, and contains the Wakhan Corridor...

 routes, the Khulm River emerges from the mountains by the town of Kholm

Kholm, Afghanistan

Kholm or Khulm is a town, until recently, in Samangan province, and now in Balkh province of northern Afghanistan 60 km east of Mazar-i-Sharif one-third of the way to Konduz. Kholm is an ancient town located on the fertile, inland delta fan of the Khulm River . As such, it is an...

.

The Khulm is used for irrigation entirely before it can reach the Oxus. In 1896, Keane wrote of the countryside's desert encroachment, causing the Khulm River as it passes from the Kara-koh hills to no longer reach the Oxus.

Agriculture

The banks of the Khulm River are rich agricultural areas with rolling green hills at the side of the valleys it passes through. Many farmers in this region of Afghanistan are dependent upon the river for agriculture, particularly fruits. The Khulm is said to produce the world's finest Satar Bayee

Satar Bayee

Satar Bayee is a brand of almonds, grown mainly in Afghanistan. The river valleys of the Khulm River in northern Afghanistan, particular Balkh Province and Samangan Province grow Satar Bayee almonds in abundance and is said to grow the finest Satar Bayee almonds in the world.Satar Bayee is...

, Khairuddin Bayee and Abdul Wahidi

Abdul Wahidi

Abdul Wahidi is a brand of almonds, grown mainly in Afghanistan. The river valleys of the Khulm River in northern Afghanistan, particularly Balkh Province and Samangan Province and Kunduz Province.grow Abdul Wahidi almonds in abundance. Balkh province is said to grow the finest Abdul Wahidi...

 almonds, pistachio

Pistachio

The pistachio, Pistacia vera in the Anacardiaceae family, is a small tree originally from Persia , which now can also be found in regions of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sicily and possibly Afghanistan , as well as in the United States,...

 nuts and Afghanistan’s finest pomegranate

Pomegranate production in Afghanistan

Pomegranate production in Afghanistan is a significant contributor to the Afghan agricultural economy. Pomegranates are a major fruit crop in many provinces such as Kandahar, Helmand, Wardak, Ghazni, Paktia, Farah, Kapisa and Balkh, and are the source of the livelihoods of thousands of...

s .

Flood control

Near Khulm, there are extensive orchards on the banks of the river. IDEA-NEW has been responsible for implementing a new program to prevent the orchards from flooding in Khulm District, protecting some 500 hectares of orchards from floods. The first phase was completed in winter 2009 with the erection of a 975 metre long protection wall and in 2010 550 metre long gabion protection walls were built on both sides of the Khulm River benefiting 500 families. The project has created some 6,900 days of employment for local workers combined and generating an income of US $99,362 for the labourers who were trained in gabion weaving to be implemented along the river banks. Previously the locals living along the river would attempt to mitigate the river against flooding with sandbanks which failed poorly.