Identification of Groundwater Potential Zones using AHP and Geospatial Techniques in Western Part of Cuddapah Basin, Andhra Pradesh, India

Present study is carried out for delineation of Groundwater Potential Zones (GWPZ) in Western part of Cuddapah basin, Southern India using Remote Sensing (RS), Geographical Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Various categorized thematic maps: geology, geomorphology (GM), slope, soils, lineament density (LD), drainage density (DD) and gorundwater levels fluctuations (GWLF) were used for mapping and delineation of GWPZs. Suitable and normalized weights were assigned based on AHP to identify GWPZ. The GWPZ map was categorized into five GWPZs types: very poor, poor, moderate, good and very good. About 1.48% (6.05 km2) area is classified in ‘very good’, 25.95% (106.07 km2) in ‘good’, 47.11% (192.53 km2) in ‘moderate’, 22.12% (90.38 km2) in ‘poor’ and 3.34% (13.66 km2) in ‘very poor’ category. The acquired outcomes were validated with water levels fluctuations in pre- and post-monsoon seasons. GIS-based multi-criteria decision making approach is useful for preparation of precise and reliable data. The AHP approach, with the aptitudes of the geospatial data, various data bases can be combined to create conceptual model for identification and estimation of GWPZs.