Abstract
The scarcity of surface water resources in the dry season in the Kilinochchi district increases the demand for freshwater. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to delineate potential groundwater zones in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka, using integrated remote sensing (RS), geographic information systems (GIS) and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Groundwater potential zones are demarcated for the Kilinochchi district by overlaying thematic layers: geology, geomorphology, land use/land cover, soil types, drainage density, slope, lineament, and rainfall. The thematic layers were integrated into a geographic information system, and a weighted overlay analysis was carried out to delineate groundwater zones. Thus the resultant map is categorized into five different potential zones: very low (59.12 km2), low (207.78 km2), moderate (309.89 km2), high (507.74 km2), and very high (111.26 km2). The groundwater potential map was validated with the existing seventy-nine wells, which indicated a good prediction accuracy of 81.8%. This suggests that the results obtained by integrating RS-GIS and AHP are well-matched with the existing well water depth. The AHP approach based on RS-GIS was a handy and efficient technique for assessing potential groundwater zones. This research will help policymakers better manage the Kilinochchi district’s groundwater resources and give scope for further research into groundwater exploration in the area.
Highlights
Groundwater or subsurface water is “a term used to denote all the waters found beneath the ground surface” [1]
The geology map of the Kilinochchi district was prepared by digitizing the geology map of Sri
Alluvial and lagoonal clay silt is primarily found in the eastern part of the district, it is distributed throughout the study area
Summary
Groundwater or subsurface water is “a term used to denote all the waters found beneath the ground surface” [1]. Groundwater is defined as “water in a saturated zone, filling the pore spaces among mineral grains or cracks and fractured rocks in a rock mass” [2]. The water from rain and snow infiltrates through soil or the pore spaces of underlying rocks to replenish the groundwater [1,2]. About one-third of the world’s population utilizes groundwater for drinking purposes [3], and demand for groundwater increases worldwide due to many factors such as population growth, advanced irrigation practice, industrial usages, etc. Population growth, increasing irrigated agriculture practices, and economic development have all increased groundwater usage and demand, with little consideration for the importance of the environmental balance of groundwater [7,8]. The total groundwater extraction has many uses worldwide: 36% for households, 42% for agriculture, and 27%
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