Geospatial approach for assessing potential water harvesting sites in Mahendragarh district of Haryana
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Date
2021-09
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Publisher
CCSHAU, Hisar
Abstract
Rainfall is an essential source of water in dry and semi-arid areas, which helps to alleviate water scarcity.
Rainwater harvesting is considered as a critical technology for preserving rainwater. Water harvesting structures
built at appropriate locations can assist to alleviate the problem of water scarcity. The best tool for locating a
suitable site for a water harvesting structure in a catchment area is a Geographical Information System (GIS).
By using remote sensing and GIS, a study was conducted for Mahendragarh district of Haryana to assess
potential sites for water harvesting structures and suitable structure was identified at each site depending upon
the surrounding conditions. Various thematic maps such as land use/land cover, geomorphology, slope, stream
order, soil type, lineament and groundwater quality etc. were prepare using remote sensing and GIS techniques
to derive suitable water harvesting sites. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to assign the weightage
values for different layers. One hundred thirty potential water harvesting sites were chosen in the study area
according to best combination of different thematic maps and their weight allotted by AHP with criteria to select
one site within a radius of 500 m so that each site may have sufficient catchment area as well as runoff water.
Each site was further evaluated on the basis of their physical characteristics to select the suitable type of
structure at that location. Among 130 water harvesting sites, farm ponds with lining, percolation tank, check
dam and gully plug were found to be the most suitable structures at 61, 61, 6 and 2, respectively. Selected sites
within the study area were further advocated by ground-truth verification at randomly selected sites. As a result,
GIS and remote sensing can be fully endorsed as a scientific way to explore water harvesting structures, which
makes the decision easier and more accurate.