Groundwater potential zones identification in Arba Minch town, Rift Valley, Ethiopia, using geospatial and AHP tools

Abstract

Groundwater is a vital natural resource that supports human needs, promotes industrial development, needs farming activities, and helps to maintain ecological balance. Geospatial technologies play an essential role in monitoring, assessing, and conserving groundwater resources. The present study was carried out at Arba Minch town, Rift Valley, southern Ethiopia. A total of eight important groundwater controlling parameters, such as lithology, geomorphology, lineament density, land-use/land cover, slope, precipitation, drainage density, and soil type, were considered to identify suitable groundwater potential zones. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique was used to derive the standard weights for each parameter and its sub-parameters, emphasizing the relative importance of contributing parameters and sub-parameters for groundwater recharge. The present study's potential groundwater zonation map was divided into three categories: poor, medium, and high. The output has shown about 36%, 24%, and 40% area falls under high, medium, and poor groundwater potential zones. Furthermore, the findings were validated using groundwater level data, which showed a strong correlation. The current study results showed the effect of geospatial techniques and the AHP method in groundwater potential mapping.