An Approach to Mapping Groundwater Recharge Potential Zones using Geospatial Techniques in Kayadhu River Basin, Maharashtra

Abstract

Rapid increase in population, agricultural expansion and ongoing development projects in the region. However, the region is facing water scarcity because of seasonal precipitation and inadequate surface water resources. Therefore, groundwater resources are gaining much more attention mainly in Kayadhu river basin to fulfil drinkable water requirements in the area. To maintain the long-term sustainability of water resources artificial recharge is expected to become frequently necessary in future as the growing population requires more water and consequently, more storage is required to conserve water for use in the times of shortage. Geospatial techniques are used in the field of hydrology and water resources management. One of the chief advantages of this techniques for hydrological investigation and observe its ability to generate data in spatial and temporal fields, which plays vital role for fruitful analysis, estimation and authentication. The suitable zones for artificial recharge were identified by overlaying thematic layers such as land use/land cover, lineament density, slope, drainage density, lithology, geomorphology, rainfall and soil characteristics are integrated with recharge potential factors. The result reveals that 79% area of Kayadhu river basin is most effective for high to moderate artificial recharge potential zone.