Abstract
Abstract. Changing hydrological phenomenon and increase the water demand in all sectors create a huge problem of water scarcity. Precipitation is one and only major source to mitigate this problem. In Central India, the average annual precipitation is sufficient in most of the part but not capable to harvest and utilize during the summer season. Identification of suitable site for water harvesting structures plays a key role to enhance the water level for watershed management. In the present study, suitable sites have been demarcated to build up a water resource development plan in Mandri river watershed of Kanker district, Chhattisgarh using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques. Basic guidelines of Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD) have been used for identifying the suitable sites for water harvesting structures. Remote Sensing and GIS are used for site suitability analysis of water harvesting structure to extract the information of various features such as lineament, land use/land cover, soil, slope, lithology, geomorphology, drainage order, rainfall etc. In order of importance, we have assigned weights to each feature. Slope and design discharge are key parameters in site suitability analysis, so that we assigned maximum weight to this parameters. A possible site suitability map for water harvesting/conservation structures was derived following an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). This work attempts to identify the probable zone for water harvesting structures such as boulder check/gabion, gully plug/bori bandhan, check dams and stop dams. Multi-criteria analysis is applied in GIS to assist the decision-makers in determining appropriate zones for water harvesting structures in view of external characteristics of the watershed. Further, using weighted overlay method, the catchment was grouped into categories of suitable or highly suitable.
Highlights
Water, one of the most vital natural resources for the survival of life is depleting quickly in urban areas as well as rural areas, mainly because of population increase at an alarming rate, with an increase in agricultural and domestic demands (Kumar et al, 2008)
The main objective of this study is to present a reasonably robust methodology for assessing water harvesting potential zone and identifying suitable sites/zones for different water harvesting structures according to the priority of watershed characteristic using Remote Sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) techniques
Identification of suitable sites for water harvesting structure plays a crucial role in maximum recharge and conservation of soil and water
Summary
One of the most vital natural resources for the survival of life is depleting quickly in urban areas as well as rural areas, mainly because of population increase at an alarming rate, with an increase in agricultural and domestic demands (Kumar et al, 2008). It highlights water scarcity mainly in Rabi and Zaid season (Naseef et al, 2015). Due to the increase in water demand in different sectors and insufficient source of availability, India is moving backward in agriculture contribution towards GDP. Reliable runoff conservation can allocate water efficiently for competing water users like hydropower generation, agricultural and domestic for maintenance of environmental flows (Patil et al, 2016)
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