Delineation of Groundwater Potential Zones in Narmada District Gujarat (India) Using GIS and AHP Techniques

A detailed study was conducted to identify groundwater potential zones in Gujarat's Narmada district using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) based on GIS and eleven thematic layers, including annual rainfall, slope, soil, curvature, drainage density, distance from river, lineament density, land use/land cover (LULC), geology, geomorphology, and topographic wetness index (TWI). The study's findings demonstrate that a number of factors, including lithology, slope, and land use/land cover, have an influence on the potential for groundwater in the Narmada district. The total district was classified into low, moderate, and high potential zones; 31.79733 km2 (1.143461%) of the district falls in low groundwater potential zone, 2251.19 km2 (80.95484%) in moderate potential, and 497.81 km2 (17.9017%) in high potential zone. High groundwater potential zones are correlated with agricultural land use, moderate slopes, and favourable geomorphology, whereas low groundwater potential zones are associated with dense vegetation, steep slopes, and unfavourable geomorphology. Using groundwater level data, the ROC curve approach was used to evaluate the accuracy of the groundwater potential zones map. The generated maps of groundwater potential can be helpful in groundwater resource management and planning, helping to identify the best locations for digging new wells, maximising the usage of existing wells, and putting into practice effective groundwater management strategies.