Abstract
In several parts of the world, groundwater potential information gap limits the development and management of the resource. GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) plays an important role in this regard. This work presents the groundwater potential mapping in a data-scarce region of Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and GIS-based MCDA. SWAT was used to model the spatiotemporal variation of groundwater recharge. The calibration and validation results show the applicability of the model in the study area. The estimated monthly average recharge varies from 2.78–164 mm. The recharge, geomorphology, lithology, soil, land use/land-cover, and DEM derived topographic characteristics were analyzed using GIS-based MCDA to evaluate the groundwater potential. The result is classified into low, moderate, and high zones and validated using the wells and springs information available in the region. More than 61% of the area has moderate groundwater potential and less than 22% of the area has high groundwater potential.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbaspour KC, Yang J, Maximov I, Siber R, Bogner K, Mieleitner J, Zobrist J, Srinivasan R (2007) Modelling hydrology and water quality in the pre-alpine/alpine Thur watershed using SWAT. Journal of Hydrology 333(2–4):413–430, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.09.014
Aga AO, Chane B, Melesse A (2018) Soil erosion modelling and risk assessment in data scarce Rift Valley Lake Regions, Ethiopia. Water 10(11):1684, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w10111684
Andualem TG, Demeke GG (2019) Groundwater potential assessment using GIS and remote sensing: A case study of Guna tana landscape, upper blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 24:100610, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2019.100610
Arnold JG, Allen PM, Bernhardt G (1993) A comprehensive surface-groundwater flow model. Journal of Hydrology 142(1–4):47–69, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(93)90004-S
Arnold JG, Moriasi DN, Gassman PW, Abbaspour KC, White MJ, Srinivasan R, Santhi C, Harmel RD, Van Griensven A, Van Liew MW, Kannan N, Jha MK (2012) SWAT: Model use, calibration, and validation. Transactions of the ASABE 55(4):1491–1508, DOI:https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.42256
Arnold JG, Srinivasan R, Muttiah RS, Williams JR (1998) Large area hydrologic modeling and assessment part I: Model development. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 34(1):73–89, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1998.tb05961.x
Arulbalaji P, Padmalal D, Sreelash K (2019) GIS and AHP techniques based delineation of groundwater potential zones: A case study from Southern Western Ghats, India. Scientific Reports 9(1), DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-38567-x
Awan UK, Ismaeel A (2014) A new technique to map groundwater recharge in irrigated areas using a SWAT model under changing climate. Journal of Hydrology 519:1368–1382, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.08.049
Ayenew T (2007) Water management problems in the Ethiopian Rift: Challenges for development. Journal of African Earth Sciences 48(2–3):222–236, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2006.05.010
Ayenew T, Demlie M, Wohnlich S (2008a) Application of numerical modeling for groundwater flow system analysis in the Akaki catchment, Central Ethiopia. Mathematical Geosciences 40(8):887–906, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11004-008-9144-x
Ayenew T, Demlie M, Wohnlich S (2008b) Hydrogeological framework and occurrence of groundwater in the Ethiopian aquifers. Journal of African Earth Sciences 52(3):97–113, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2008.06.006
Bashe BB (2017) Groundwater potential mapping using Remote Sensing and GIS in rift valley lakes basin, Weito Sub Basin, Ethiopia. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research 8(2):43–50
Berehanu B, Ayenew T, Azagegn T (2017) Challenges of groundwater flow model calibration using MODFLOW in Ethiopia: With particular emphasis to the Upper Awash River Basin. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection 5(3):50–66, DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/gep.2017.53005
Berhanu B, Melesse AM, Seleshi Y (2013) GIS-based hydrological zones and soil geo-database of Ethiopia. Catena 104:21–31, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2012.12.007
Beven KJ, Kirkby MJ (1979) A physically based, variable contributing area model of basin hydrology/Un modèle à base physique de zone d’appel variable de l’hydrologie du bassin versant. Hydrological Sciences Bulletin 24(1):43–69, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667909491834
Calow RC, MacDonald AM, Nicol AL, Robins NS (2010) Ground water security and drought in Africa: Linking availability, access, and demand. Ground Water 48(2):246–256, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2009.00558.x
Das S (2019) Comparison among influencing factor, frequency ratio, and analytical hierarchy process techniques for groundwater potential zonation in Vaitarna basin, Maharashtra, India. Groundwater for Sustainable Development 8:617–629, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2019.03.003
Desta H, Lemma B (2017) SWAT based hydrological assessment and characterization of Lake Ziway sub-watersheds, Ethiopia. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 13:122–137, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2017.08.002
Drobne S, Lisec A (2009) Multi-attribute decision analysis in GIS: Weighted linear combination and ordered weighted averaging. Informatica (Ljubljana) 33(4):459–474
Eshtawi T, Evers M, Tischbein B (2016) Quantifying the impact of urban area expansion on groundwater recharge and surface runoff. Hydrological Sciences Journal 61(5):826–843, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2014.1000916
Githui F, Selle B, Thayalakumaran T (2012) Recharge estimation using remotely sensed evapotranspiration in an irrigated catchment in southeast Australia. Hydrological Processes 26(9):1379–1389, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8274
Halcrow GL, GIRDC (2008) Rift Valley Lakes Basin integrated resources development master plan study project. Phase I: Final report, Ministry of Water Resources, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Hussein A-A, Govindu V, Nigusse AGM (2017) Evaluation of groundwater potential using geospatial techniques. Applied Water Science 7(5):2447–2461, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-016-0433-0
Ibrahim-Bathis K, Ahmed SA (2016) Geospatial technology for delineating groundwater potential zones in Doddahalla watershed of Chitradurga district, India. Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science 19(2):223–234, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2016.06.002
Izady A, Davary K, Alizadeh A, Ziaei AN, Akhavan S, Alipoor A, Joodavi A, Brusseau ML (2014) Groundwater conceptualization and modeling using distributed SWAT- based recharge for the semi-arid agricultural Neishaboor plain, Iran. Hydrogeology Journal 23(1): 47–68, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-014-1219-9
Jha MK, Chowdhury A, Chowdary VM, Peiffer S (2007) Groundwater management and development by integrated remote sensing and geographic information systems: Prospects and constraints. Water Resour Manage 21:427–467, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-006-9024-4
JICA (2012) The study on groundwater resources assessment in the Rift Valley Lakes Basin in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Final report, Japan International Cooperation, Ministry of Water & Energy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Jin G, Shimizu Y, Onodera S, Saito M, Matsumori K (2015) Evaluation of drought impact on groundwater recharge rate using SWAT and Hydrus models on an agricultural island in western Japan. Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences 371:143–148, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-371-143-2015
Jun C, Ban Y, Li S (2014) Open access to Earth land-cover map. Nature 514(7523):434–434, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/514434c
Kebede S (2013) Groundwater in Ethiopia: Features, numbers and opportunities. Springer Science & Business Media, Berlin, Heidelberg, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30391-3
Kebede S, Travi Y, Asrat A, Alemayehu T, Ayenew T, Tessema Z (2008) Groundwater origin and flow along selected transects in Ethiopian rift volcanic aquifers. Hydrogeology Journal 16(1):55–73, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-007-0210-0
Legesse D, Ayenew T (2006) Effect of improper water and land resource utilization on the central Main Ethiopian Rift lakes. Quaternary International 148(1):8–18, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2005.11.003
Lerner DN, Harris B (2009) The relationship between land use and groundwater resources and quality. Land Use Policy 26:S265–S273, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.09.005
Li X, Cheng G, Lin H, Cai X, Fang M, Ge Y, Hu X, Chen M, Li W (2018) Watershed system model: The essentials to model complex human-nature system at the river basin scale. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 123(6):3019–3034, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD028154
Malczewski J (2000) On the use of weighted linear combination method in GIS: Common and best practice approaches. Transactions in GIS 4(1):5–22, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9671.00035
Mallick J, Khan RA, Ahmed M, Alqadhi SD, Alsubih M, Falqi I, Hasan MA (2019) Modeling groundwater potential zone in a semi-arid region of Aseer using Fuzzy-AHP and Geoinformation techniques. Water 11(12):2656, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w11122656
Manna F, Cherry JA, McWhorter DB, Parker BL (2016) Groundwater recharge assessment in an upland sandstone aquifer of southern California. Journal of Hydrology 541:787–799, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.07.039
McCormack T, O’Connell Y, Daly E, Gill LW, Henry T, Perriquet M (2017) Characterisation of karst hydrogeology in Western Ireland using geophysical and hydraulic modelling techniques. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 10:1–17, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2016.12.083
Mechal A, Birk S, Dietzel M, Leis A, Winkler G, Mogessie A, Kebede S (2017) Groundwater flow dynamics in the complex aquifer system of Gidabo River Basin (Ethiopian Rift): A multi-proxy approach. Hydrogeology Journal 25(2):519–538, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-016-1489-5
Mechal A, Birk S, Winkler G, Wagner T, Mogessie A (2016) Characterizing regional groundwater flow in the Ethiopian Rift: A multi-model approach applied to Gidabo River Basin. Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences Vienna 109:68–83, DOI: https://doi.org/10.17738/ajes.2016.0005
Moriasi DN, Arnold JG, Van Liew MW, Bingner RL, Harmel RD, Veith TL (2007) Model evaluation guidelines for systematic quantification of accuracy in watershed simulations. Transactions of the ASABE 50(3):885–900, DOI: https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.23153
Nair HC, Padmalal D, Joseph A, Vinod PG (2017) Delineation of groundwater potential zones in river basins using geospatial tools — An example from Southern Western Ghats, Kerala, India. Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis 1(1–2):5, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41651-017-0003-5
Pascual-Ferrer J, Pérez-Foguet A, Codony J, Raventos E, Candela L (2014) Assessment of water resources management in the Ethiopian Central Rift Valley: Environmental conservation and poverty reduction. International Journal of Water Resources Development 30(3):572–587, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2013.843410
Podvezko V (2009) Application of AHP technique. Journal of Business Economics and Management 10(2):181–189, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/16111699.2009.10.181-189
Putthividhya A, Laonamsai J (2017) SWAT and MODFLOW modeling of spatio-temporal runoff and groundwater recharge distribution. Proceedings of world environmental and water resources congress 2017, May 21–25, Sacramento, CA, USA, 51–65, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784480618.006
Rashid M, Lone MA, Ahmed S (2012) Integrating geospatial and ground geophysical information as guidelines for groundwater potential zones in hard rock terrains of south India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 184(8):4829–4839, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2305-2
Rouholahnejad E, Abbaspour KC, Vejdani M, Srinivasan R, Schulin R, Lehmann A (2012) A parallelization framework for calibration of hydrological models. Environmental Modelling & Software 31:28–36, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2011.12.001
Saaty RW (1987) The analytic hierarchy process — What it is and how it is used. Mathematical Modelling 9(3–5):161–176, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0270-0255(87)90473-8
Saaty TL (1990) How to make a decision: The analytic hierarchy process. European Journal of Operational Research 48(1):9–26, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-2217(90)90057-I
Saaty TL (2008) Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. International Journal of Services Sciences 1(1):83–98, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSSCI.2008.017590
Singh LK, Jha MK, Chowdary VM (2018) Assessing the accuracy of GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis approaches for mapping groundwater potential. Ecological Indicators 91:24–37, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.03.070
Serensen R, Zinko U, Seibert J (2006) On the calculation of the topographic wetness index: Evaluation of different methods based on field observations. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 10(1): 101–112, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-10-101-2006
Tegegne G, Park DK, Kim Y-O (2017) Comparison of hydrological models for the assessment of water resources in a data-scarce region, the Upper Blue Nile River Basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 14:49–66, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2017.10.002
Tkach RJ, Simonovic SP (1997) A new approach to multi-criteria decision making in water resources. Journal of Geographic Information and Decision Analysis 1(1):25–44
Weiss AD (2001) Topographic positions and landforms analysis. ESRI international user conference, July 9–13, San Diego, CA, USA
White J (1966) Convex-concave landslopes?: A geometrical study. Ohio Journal of Science (Ohio Academy of Science) 66(6)
Wu S, Li J, Huang GH (2008) A study on DEM-derived primary topographic attributes for hydrologic applications: Sensitivity to elevation data resolution. Applied Geography 28(3):210–223, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2008.02.006
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) as a Demand Responsive Water Supply Service Program (146515). National Meteorological Service Agency of Ethiopia (NMSAE) and the Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation, and Electricity (MoWIE) are acknowledged for providing data.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yifru, B.A., Mitiku, D.B., Tolera, M.B. et al. Groundwater Potential Mapping Using SWAT and GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. KSCE J Civ Eng 24, 2546–2559 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-020-0168-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-020-0168-1