Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) - Based flood water retention planning in Thailand

Abstract

The Chi River basin is the lifeline of northeast Thailand and suffers from recurrent food and drought, The fundamental solution lies in storing the flood water and using it in the dry months for agriculture and domestic use. This paper describes a methodology that can help identify the optimum of flood retention reservoirs based on the use of an analytical hierarchical process (AHP). The parameters considered in the study were salt crust, soil drainage, slope, land use, and geological formation. AHP was used to compute the weights of the main and sub-criteria. These weights were employed to determine a Water Harvesting Potential Index (WHPI). Based on the analysis, potential areas were categorized as excellent, good, moderate, and poor candidates. These data were converted into vector layers for creating water harvesting zone maps, The capacity of the potential reservoirs was computed in a GIS environment using an analysis of digital elevation models (DEMs) and maps of potential water harvesting zones. The DEM had some missing data points, which were filled and calibrated. The map was validated with a field survey of the flood water retention site and the reservoir sites under the supervision of Regional Office of Irrigation 6, Thailand. The proposed methodology improved the ability to identify the location of flood water retention reservoirs in Thailand. Copyright © 2008 by Bellwether Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved.