Assessment of Groundwater Vulnerability to Climate Change of Jalgaon District (M.S.), India, Using GIS Techniques

Abstract

Jalgaon District falls in the northwestern region of Maharashtra state in India. Groundwater is a primary source for drinking and irrigation in this region. The study aims at identifying the various parameters affecting groundwater of Jalgaon District and demarcates vulnerable zones using weighted overlay analysis with the application of geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS). This study has primarily understood groundwater depletion trends, and eight parameters such as distance from major residential area, distance from major roads, LULC, slope, drainage density, rainfall, net groundwater recharge, and average groundwater level which have been identified are responsible for groundwater vulnerability. The subordinate stage was to assign weights to the parameters by the Delphi technique. Further, using weighted overlay analysis, eight thematic maps were generated and superimposed to demarcate vulnerable areas. The results show that 17% of the total study area is under high or more vulnerability zones. Vulnerability within the region increases while moving toward the north of the study region. The southern part is under very low to low vulnerability, the central part is under low to moderate vulnerability, and the northern part of the district comes under the high vulnerability zone. Suggestions have been provided for the immediate improvement of the highly vulnerable groundwater zones.