Assessment of groundwater vulnerability of Amritsar district using GIS based DRASTIC model
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Date
2017
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
Groundwater contamination is of particular concern as groundwater is the principal
source of water for irrigation, drinking and industrial activities. The present study investigated
the groundwater vulnerability of Amritsar district (Punjab) by using the GIS based DRASTIC
model. This model uses seven hydrogeological parameters viz. depth to water table, net
recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of vadose zone and hydraulic
conductivity. Layers for all these parameters were created in ArcGIS. Groundwater
vulnerability index was computed within ArcGIS and it varies between 129 and 175. The
results of the analysis showed that about 57.91% study area lies in the low vulnerable zone
with vulnerability index ranges between 129 and 145, 40.46% area lies in the moderately
vulnerable zone with vulnerability index ranging between 145 and 160 and 1.63% area is the
high vulnerable zone with vulnerability index range between 160 and 175. Sensitivity analysis
was also carried out to evaluate the impact of each DRASTIC parameter on groundwater
vulnerability index. Two methods were used namely single parameter sensitivity analysis and
map removal sensitivity analysis. Single parameter sensitivity indicated that depth to water
table, net recharge, topography and hydraulic conductivity layers are most significant
hydrogeological parameters for the assessment of groundwater vulnerability of the study area.
Map removal sensitivity analysis indicates that vulnerability index is highly sensitive to the
depth to water table layer, topography and soil layers but it is least sensitive to aquifer media
layer. The study will be helpful for land use planning.
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