Assessment of groundwater potential zones using GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis: a case study on Enemor and Ener Woreda, Central Ethiopia Region

Groundwater is one of the most important contributors to fresh water for humankind in the world. The knowledge of groundwater distribution can play a significant role in the planning and implementation of groundwater management strategies. The major aim of this study was to assess the groundwater potential zone using geographic information system (GIS)-based multicriteria decision analysis in the Enemor and Ener Woreda, Ethiopia. The factors considered in this study are rainfall, geology, slope, drainage density, land use/land cover (LULC), lineament density, and soil type. As a result of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), it was determined that rainfall and geology are the most influencing factors based on their scoring higher weights. The groundwater potential zone of the study area was categorized into five classes, namely, very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. On analysis, most portions of the study area are found to be under the moderate situation, which covers around 540.23 km2 (65.6%) of the study area, whereas very low, low, high, and very high potentiality classes cover 0.002, 10.99, 21.93, and 0.55% of the area, respectively. Approximately 92% of the observed boreholes agreed with the developed map. Finally, the output of this study is important to regional as well as local policymakers for the exploitation of groundwater or management purposes.