Arabian Journal of Geosciences (2018) 11: 8

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-3324-2

ORIGINAL PAPER

Mapping groundwater recharge potential using GIS approach

in Darwha block
Nitin Patil 1 & Vishnu Prakash Reddy 1 & Anurag Patangray 1 & Surendra Kumar Singh 1

Received: 6 January 2017 / Accepted: 30 November 2017 / Published online: 3 January 2018
# Saudi Society for Geosciences 2018

Abstract
Groundwater is the most important source of water in meeting irrigation, drinking, and other needs in India. The assessment of the
potential zone for its recharge is critical for sustainable usage, quality management, and food security. This study reports
alternative mapping of the groundwater recharge potential of a selected block by including large-scale soil data. Thematic layers
of soil, geomorphology, slope, land use land cover, topographical wetness index, and drainage density of Darwha block (District
Yavatmal, Maharashtra, India) were generated and integrated in a geographic information system environment. The topographic
maps, thematic maps, field data, and satellite image were processed, classified, and weighted using analytical hierarchical process
for their contribution to groundwater recharge. The layers were integrated by weighted linear combination method in the
GIS environment to generate four groundwater potential zones viz., Bpoor,^ Bpoor to moderate,^ Bmoderate to high,^ and
Bhigh.^ Based on the generated groundwater potential map, about 9830 ha (12%) of the study area was categorized as
high potential for recharge, 25,558 ha (31%) as poor to moderate, 33,398 ha (40%) as moderate to high, and 12,565 ha
(15%) as poor potential zone. The zonation corresponds well with the field data on greater well density (0.22/ha) and
irrigated crop area (27%) in the high potential zone as against 0.02 wells/ha and only 6% irrigated area in the poor zone.
The map is recommended for use in regulating groundwater development decisions and judicious expenditure on drilling
new wells by farmers and the state authorities.

Keywords Groundwater . GIS . Remote sensing . Land use land cover . Basaltic region . Recharge potential

Introduction normal rainfall during 2015–2016 (14% below long-term av-

Groundwater is a dominant source of irrigation in India with
60–70% share (Gandhi and Namboodiri 2009). In fact, India
is the highest user of groundwater in the world. Estimates by
the IDFC Foundation (2013) indicate that about 88% of the
total annual groundwater drawn from all the wells in India is
being used for irrigation. Kulkarni et al. (2015) have argued
that nearly 700 million Indians, who live in villages, almost
entirely depend upon groundwater for their daily needs. The
importance of groundwater in the Indian context could also be
gauged from the fact that the second successive year of below
* Nitin Patil
nitpat03@yahoo.co.uk
1
National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning,
Nagpur, India
erage— Monsoon report 2015) has not caused any reduction
in food production despite almost half the districts reporting
monsoon failure as compared to the 19% decline in food pro-
duction during year 1965–1966 when monsoon was 20% be-
low normal (Prasad and Sharma 1991). According to the
World Bank report (2009), more than 60% of the irrigated
agriculture and 85% of the drinking water supplies in the
country are dependent on groundwater. It also warns that if
the current trends continue, in 20 years, about 60% of all
India’s aquifers will be in critical condition. However, varia-
tions in climate, topography, land use, crop intensity, and other
anthropogenic factors lead to different patterns of groundwa-
ter usage/draft and its replenishment/recharge. Thus, the man-
agement strategies must be region specific based on reliable
estimates. For instance, basaltic rocks of Deccan occupy the
most extensive tracts of Western Peninsula covering large
parts of the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
and Andhra Pradesh. The recharge capability of basaltic rocks
is greatly influenced by the overlying thickness, texture, and
8 Page 2 of 15
Fig. 1 Location map of the study area (Darwha)
structure of the soils and their location with reference to to-
pography and geomorphology of landscape units (Khadri and
Suple 2013). In many parts of the country, data are
inadequate and field realities do not match the
prospect maps. The Report of the Working Group on
Sustainable Ground Water Management, Planning
Commission (2011) on sustainable groundwater manage-
ment recommended adopting alternative techniques for
recharge assessment where the estimates do not match
the situation on the field. Currently used prospecting
methods do not include soil, land use land cover infor-
mation/data, and thus, major factors are either complete-
ly ignored or used at small scale. Based on the avail-
able information, we believe there are no research re-
ports from India using soil data for groundwater poten-
tial estimation. Moreover, most of the data used in de-
lineation groundwater potential rely on small-scale
(1:50,000) information.
Several methods, such as geological, hydro-geological, and
geophysical, are used to estimate the groundwater potential of
the region. Remote sensing (RS) holds tremendous potential
for regional groundwater flow studies. It facilitates a wide
range scale study and synoptic view of the space-time
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8
distribution observations while saving time and money
(Machiwal et al. 2011; Sener et al. 2005; Murthy 2000;
Leblanc et al. 2003; Yeh et al. 2009). The RS data combined
with Geographic Information System (GIS) and ground-based
information are most useful to infer groundwater behavior.
Many factors such as topography, lithology, soil type, slope,
drainage pattern, landform, land use land cover, and climate
(Jaiswal et al. 2003; Jha et al. 2007; Senanayake et al. 2016;
Subagunasekar and Sashikkumar 2012; Sharma et al. 2012;
Yeh et al. 2009) have a deterministic effect on the groundwater
potential of the region and hence used in delineating potential
zones of groundwater.
This study is an attempt to devise a method to include
soil data and large-scale land use land cover (LULC) in-
formation for groundwater potential delineation. Soil data
in India are not generally available on large scale. Perhaps
this is the reason; we did not find a single report relating
soil information on large scale to estimate groundwater
recharge potential for region/watershed. We also used geo-
morphology, drainage, and slope as the significant factors
affecting potential groundwater recharge. A GIS technolo-
gy was used to digitize the data on these factors, and a
multi criteria decision analysis was employed to delineate
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8 Page 3 of 15 8

Cartosat DEM Landsat-8 Image NBSS & LUP data

Slope TWI Drainage Density LULC Soil Geomorphology

Prioritize the weights for each factor

Ground water Potential Map

Validation with Field data

Fig. 2 Flowchart of processes to generate a groundwater potential map

recharge potential zones. The study block is located in the
most distressed agrarian district of India where more num-
ber of farmer suicides has been recorded recently for suc-
cessive years. The reasons for high prevalence of suicides
inter alia include crop failure due to monsoon variations
and lack of irrigation facilities in the region. Since
groundwater is considered less vulnerable than surface
sources to climate fluctuations and can therefore help to
stabilize agricultural populations and reduce the need for
farmers to migrate when drought threatens agricultural
livelihoods (Moench 2002), this study aimed at
providing reliable estimates of the groundwater recharge
potential.
Materials and methods
The study area (Fig. 1), Darwha block (administrative unit), is
located in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra state, India. It
is positioned between 77° 33I 50II, 77° 59I 50II E longitudes,
and 20° 28I, 20° 11I N latitudes admeasuring 87,157 ha. The
Deccan Trap Basalt is the predominant water bearing

Table 1 Pairwise comparison

matrix and criteria weights Drainage Slope Soil TWI LULC Geomorphology Criteria
density weights

Drainage 1.00 0.33 5.00 0.50 0.50 3.00 19.91

density
Slope 3.00 1.00 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.33 10.31
Soil 0.20 3.00 1.00 0.33 1.00 3.00 15.16
TWI 2.00 3.00 3.00 1.00 0.33 0.20 15.69
LULC 2.00 3.00 1.00 3.00 1.00 0.33 17.41
Geomorphology 0.33 3.00 0.33 5.00 3.00 1.00 21.52
8 Page 4 of 15 Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8

Table 2 Weightages of
groundwater prospecting Factor Class Scale value Weightage
parameters by multi criteria
evaluation technique Drainage density 20
0–1.5 2
1.5–3 4
3–5 5
5–7 7
7–25 9
Slope 10
0–3 7
3–7 6
7–13 5
13–23 2
23–50 1
Soil 15
Clay 3
Sandy loam 6
Clay loam 5
Sandy clay loam 4
Silty loam 7
Settlement Restricted
TWI 15
0.00–0.20 2
0.20–0.37 4
0.37–1.00 7
LULC 18
Agriculture 6
Water bodies 9
Wastelands 3
Forest 4
Habitation Restricted
Geomorphology 22
Dissected upper plateau 4
Moderate soil cover 6
Plateau top/(denudational slopes) 3
Water body mask 9
Exposed rock/negligible soil cover 1
Alluvial plain (younger/lower) 8
Habitation mask Restricted
With thin soil cover 5

formation. The Weathered Vesicular Basalt mainly forms the
predominant shallow aquifer down to the depth of 20 m bgl.
The Massive Basalt is also encountered at the top, thereby
forming poor yielding aquifer and also restricting the ground-
water recharge to the underlying porous Vesicular Basalt
(CGWB report 2013).
The climate in this part of India is semi-arid and water
requirement is mostly served by a mean annual monsoon of
925 mm during June to September. The human population
(165,000) and more than 100,000 livestock depend on limited
water resources in this block (Socio-economic report of
Yavatmal district 2013).
Remote sensing technology, such as satellite images, was
used in this study to identify the land use, land cover features,
topography, and distribution of the drain lines in the block.
Additionally, the soil survey database, geologic maps, and on-
site investigation were conducted to ascertain hydro-
geological conditions. Different polygons in thematic maps
were labeled separately. The influence of factors affecting
groundwater recharge and the interaction between them were
examined. Weighting values were assigned according to the
on-site situation and multi criteria decision analysis. The dis-
tribution of the groundwater recharge potential zone was de-
termined by coordinating it (Fig. 2) with the analytical hierar-
chical process. The data were verified through field visits.
Details of the data used are as follows:
& Satellite/Cartosat image of the study block (30 m spatial
resolution)
& Landsat 8 satellite image for preparation of the LULC
map, Digital Elevation Model (DEM)—acquisition date:
28 January 2016
& Soil map at 1:50,000 scale prepared by Bhaskar et al.
(2014)
& Geomorphology map at 1:50,000 scale prepared by the
Maharashtra Remote Sensing Applications Centre
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8 Page 5 of 15 8

Fig. 3 Land use land cover map of Darwha block

& Open well location data (prepared using Google of surface water. The low potential of groundwater recharge
Earth Pro) and irrigation data collected through field can be expected on steep slopes, as water runs quickly down-
visits stream providing inadequate time for infiltration. Five slope
classes were differentiated namely 0–3, 3–7, 7–13, 13–23, and
23–50%. Areas with gentle slope can be considered as good
The DEM was built using Cartosat data. The slope analysis sites for groundwater recharge. Thus, the weightage decreased
function in the GIS was used to assess the variation of slope in with an increasing slope (Table 1).
the study block using data from the Digital Elevation data- The drainage density is the total length of all the rivers in a
base. The slope gradient has direct influence on infiltration drainage basin divided by the total area of the drainage basin.
The drainage-length density (Dd) as defined by Greenbaum
(1985) indicates the total drainage-length in a unit area and is
Table 3 Land use statistics of Darwha block
determined by
Ln
Land use (2016) Area (ha) Percent to total area Drainage density ðDd Þ ¼ ð1Þ
A
Agriculture 64,796 74
Forest 9869 11 Where, L is the accumulated length (km), n is the order of the
Wasteland 8207 9
stream, and A is the surface area of the watershed (km2). The
Habitation 1718 2
line density tool, in ArcGIS, was used with a search radius of
Water body 2561 3
500 m to map the drainage density. The drainage density clas-
ses were arbitrarily classified as low to nil (0–1.7), low (1.7–
Total 87,150
3.7), moderate (3.7–6.2), high (6.2–11.5), and very high
8 Page 6 of 15 Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8

Fig. 4 Drainage density map of Darwha block

(11.5–25.5). The Strahler’s system was followed for drain/
stream classification because of its simplicity, where the
smallest, unbranched fingertip streams are designated as first
order, the confluence of two first-order channels gives a chan-
nel segments of second order, two second-order streams join
to form a segment of the third order, and so on. The presence
of a natural drainage system is an indirect indication of the
high permeability and porosity of the terrain due to its
relationship with the surface runoff (Krishnamurthy et al.
2000). It was assumed that the higher the stream order, the
better will be the opportunity for the infiltration to groundwa-
ter. Hajam et al. (2013) observed that in the Vishav basin
(India) the fifth, sixth, and seventh order stream segments
occur in comparatively plain lands. It is generally accepted
that flow occurs at a lower velocity in higher order streams
and relatively higher hydrostatic pressure causes a downward

Table 4 Soil, slope, and TWI statistics of Darwha block

Soil type Area Percentage TWI Class Area (ha) Percentage to Slope Area (ha) Percentage to
(ha) to total area total area (%) class (%) total area (%)

Clayey/gravelly clay 50,178 58 0–2 55,341 64 0–3 44,038 51

Sandy loam 8359 10 2–3.75 23,840 28 3–7 28,734 33
Clay loam/clay loam 20,327 23 3.75–1.00 6674 8 7–13 8077 9
Gravelly sandy clay loam 5274 6 13–23 3615 4
Silty loam 26 0.3 23–50 1394 2
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8
Fig. 5 Soil texture map of Darwha block
movement of water into the soil and hence groundwater
recharge.
The stream order was multiplied with the length of stream
to further improve the map.
The topographic wetness index (TWI) developed by Beven
and Kikby (1979) was used to quantify the topographic con-
trol on hydrological processes.
TWI ¼ ln ðAs=tanðβÞÞ ð2Þ
where As is the specific catchment area (catchment area di-
vided by the cell width in the slope direction); β is the local
slope in the steepest down slope direction of the terrain in
degrees, tanβ is the local slope angle of the specific grid,
which is used to replace approximately the local hydraulic
gradient under steady state conditions. Using normalized
TWI values, recharge zones were categorized as dis-
charge zone and probable recharge zones. High TWI
occurs in places with high flow accumulation values
and flat slopes. Most of the rainwater flows as runoff
Page 7 of 15 8
in the discharge zone while recharge zones have slightly
better opportunity time for water to infiltrate into the
soils and then to water table.
The LULC map was prepared using supervised classifica-
tion of satellite image, and it was further refined using the
Google Earth Pro image (visual interpretation) followed by
ground truth verification for better accuracy. Land use/land
cover influences the rate of surface runoff, infiltration, and
groundwater utilization. Thus, it can be a good indicator of
the recharge potential. Five different classes of land use were
distinguished with the highest weightage to water bodies and
the lowest to wastelands.
The available soil information at the 1:50,000 scale
was added as a theme layer with more weightage to
alluvial soils conducive to recharge of groundwater
while clay soils were rated less conducive for recharge.
Clay and silt texture soils typically show low permeabil-
ity levels and impervious conditions (Saunders 2001).
Geology provides descriptive information on underlying
soil/rock layers and their properties. The porosity of
8 Page 8 of 15
Fig. 6 Slope map of Darwha block
rocks differs from one rock type to another. Effective
porosity may be original or induced and governs the
recharging capacity by providing space to retain water
(Senanayake et al. 2016). Geomorphological features
combined with structures and lithology control the oc-
currence, movement, and quality of groundwater. The
evolution of landforms is useful to understand the oc-
currence of porous and permeable zones. Therefore, the
geomorphological information was classified and
assigned weight into eight categories.
Deriving the weights using analytic hierarchy process
The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) proposed by Saaty
(1980) as a method of solving socio-economic decision-mak-
ing problems has been used to solve a wide range of problems
(Agarwal et al. 2013). The AHP is utilized when dimensions
are independent and is suited to solving the problems involv-
ing dependent dimensions (Yang et al. 2008). The thematic
maps of LULC, soil, TWI, slope, drainage density, and geo-
morphology were prepared and classified into defined raster
classes. The relative importance values of thematic layers
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8
(Table 1) were determined with Saaty’s one to nine scale
(Saaty 1987) where a score of one represents equal importance
between the two themes, and a score of nine indicates the
extreme importance of one theme compared to the other one.
The weightages so obtained were rounded off to the nearest
whole number (Table 2).
The groundwater potential map was then developed from
the BM^ value as defined as follows.
M ¼ w1X1 þ w2X2 þ w3X3 þ … þ wnXn
Where M is the value for each pixel of the final groundwater
potential map of the study area. Variables w1, w2, ….wn are
the weight values for each preparatory factor and variables
X1, X2, ….Xn are the rating values for each pixel according
to the preparatory factor to which it is referred.
Results and discussion
The LULC map derived for Darwha block is depicted in
Fig. 3. The numbers in Table 3 show that the block has
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8
Fig. 7 Topographic wetness index.
more than 74% area cultivated to crops, while forestland
is limited to 11%. Approximately 11% area is classified as
wastelands. During the verification visits, it was noted
that these are either high sloping lands bereft of vegeta-
tion or very sparse bush lands. The soils are less than 5-
cm thick in these wastelands. The forest is not thick and
has moderate canopy. Cotton and soybean are the major
crops occupying more than 80% cultivated area. Since
sowing along the slope is practiced, this crop land use
was assigned weight of six, while other land uses also
scored poorly (Table 2).
Drainage channels were delineated using Cartosat
DEM (30 m) and verified with the drainage map (Fig.
4) generated using Google Earth Pro and then validated
during field visits/ground truthing. The drainage density
map was categorized into five classes varying from ex-
cellent to poor zones as shown in Fig. 4, and the
weightage was accorded as detailed in Table 2.
Soils of the block (Table 4, Fig. 5) are dominantly clayey
(58% area) followed by gravelly clay loam (23%). Clay soils
have low infiltration rates and hence considered not good for
Page 9 of 15 8
groundwater recharge (low rating). Slope categorization data
indicate that 51% of the lands have 0–3% slope that is ame-
nable for recharge. More than 80% of the study area belongs
to moderate slope class (0–3 or 3–7%). Only 6% of the total
area showed steep slopes (Fig. 6). However, soils are clayey
reducing the potential which is also reflected in TWI statistics
of the block (Table 4, Fig. 7).
Various landforms in the study area are plateau top; dissect-
ed upper plateau; exposed rock; thick, moderate, and thin soil
cover with weathered material; shallow alluvial plain (youn-
ger/lower); denudational plateaus; residual hill; linear ridge;
and dikes. All these parameters are classified into seven cate-
gories (Fig. 8, Table 5).
Groundwater potential map
The raster maps prepared, i.e., soil, LULC, geomorphology,
drainage density, TWI, and slope, were integrated using
weighted overlay analysis to produce groundwater potential
zones (Fig. 9). It is classified into four zones varying from
poor to high potential (Table 6).
8 Page 10 of 15 Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8

Fig. 8 Geomorphological map of the study area

Expectedly, the high recharge potential zone is located watershed named BKupta nala^ (11,260 ha) was extracted
around the drainage channels and water bodies. The poor re- from the block map for verification/sample study (Fig. 10).
charge zone occurred in the hilly region, forestlands, and Wells located in poor and moderate to poor zone were selected
wastelands. More than 50% of the block area was observed for verification. The wells in high or moderate zones were not
to have Bmoderate to high^ potential. A representative included due to certainty originating from the fact that the
irrigated land parcels in the image could be visually differen-
tiated from the barren land parcels asides the clearly visible
well(s). Of the 40 randomly selected wells (20 each in poor
Table 5 Geomorphological statistics of Darwha block and moderate to poor zone), all the wells in the poor zone were
observed to have been abandoned because of the meager
Classification Area (ha) Percent to total area
yields and were reportedly used for drinking water purpose.
Thick soil cover 27,940 31.97 In the moderate to poor zone, four wells were observed to be
Dissected upper plateau 2171 2.48 located near earthen channels built for canal water convey-
Moderate soil cover 18,535 21.2 ance. Each of these wells irrigated more than 2 ha area belying
Plateau top/(denudational slopes) 31,586 36.14 the recharge class. Thus, the aberration from prediction was
Water body mask 1925 2.2 well explained. It could be inferred that the recharge potential
Exposed rock/negligible soil cover 1511 1.72 map was validated. Data on well irrigation collected from each
Alluvial plain (younger/lower) 3533 4.04 village (total 140 villages) and web portal of Government of
Habitation mask 32 0.03 Maharashtra (www.mahabhulekh.com) were also referred for
With thin soil cover 162 0.18 verification. Since the block depends on rainfall for monsoon
season crop (first crop), cropped fields observed in the month
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8 Page 11 of 15 8

Fig. 9 Groundwater recharge potential zones of the study area

of January indicate irrigated (rabi) crop. Further, year 2015 accordance with the recharge potential class. A total of
was a drought year (550 mm rainfall as against annual normal 3155 ha irrigated area were observed to be in the high/
of 925 mm); hence, a possibility of crops raised on residual moderate to high category.
soil moisture was ruled out through field visits. Fields without Information on total irrigated area in each potential zone
visible wells and plots with more than 1 ha (Google Earth Pro and number of wells per unit area (well density) could also
image) were marked for verification, because the well yields help in verification of the recharge potential. However,
in the block are generally low. It was noted that land parcels farmers in semi-arid regions often dig open wells more with
with more than 1 ha irrigated area were either irrigated by a hope than rationale or probability of finding water. Despite
canals or tubewells. From the statistics in Table 6 and Fig. these facts, well density could be useful in ascertaining the
11, it could be observed that the irrigated area is in correctness of recharge potential assessment. It is evident in
Table 7 that the well density was higher (0.22/ha) in the
BHigh^ recharge potential area and lower (0.02/ha) in the
Table 6 Area statistics of different groundwater prospect zones in the
BPoor^ potential area. Nearly 79% of the total irrigated area
study area is located in a combined zone of high and moderate to high
potential.
Groundwater recharge potential Area (ha) Area (%)
From these results, it is evident that the groundwater re-
Poor 12,565 15 charge potential has been mapped with acceptable accuracy.
Poor to moderate 25,558 31 In a similar study, Singh and Prakash (2002) estimated the
Moderate to high 33,398 40 groundwater recharge potential map of a sub-watershed from
High 9830 12
the geology, the lineament maps, the drainage, the slope, and
the thickness of the soil covered. They observed that the well
8 Page 12 of 15
Fig. 10 Groundwater potential and well map of the Kupta Nala watershed
yield data in India are closely related to the groundwater re-
charge potential zone. As most of the soil covered in our study
area is clayey, water needs greater time to infiltrate into ground.
So it will be better to construct more percolation/storage struc-
tures to improve the groundwater recharge in the study block.
The Central Ground Water Board report (2013) estimates the
available groundwater in Darwha block at 92 MCM and the
draft of 38 MCM. The report states further 48 MCM water
could be utilized without stress. However, there has been a
rapid increase in the number of wells since 2010 and majority
of the wells have dried up. The well yield in general is low to
moderate, ranging from 0.4 to 8 lps for a 30-m drawdown in
this block. The water levels rise by 2–5 m after monsoon. The
depth to groundwater ranges from 10 to 20 m.
Considering such limitations in major parts of the state, the
Government of Maharashtra has recently launched a program
to make the state drought free. During the last 2 years, a big
investment of 180,000 (US$2880 million) was made mostly
for rainwater conservation and harvesting to make 5000 vil-
lages self-sufficient to meet domestic water requirements and
irrigate agriculture fields to maximum possible extent. The
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8
focus is mostly on drainline treatments such as channel
widening, desilting, cement bunds on the streams, and
earthen dams. However, it does not include planned efforts
to enhance groundwater recharge. Shiferaw et al. (2003) have
observed that excessive extraction without reinvesting in
recharging facilities has led to depletion of scarce groundwater
resources in many parts of India. Even when the level of
recharging has increased, the groundwater level in many wa-
tersheds is declining due to unregulated overexploitation by
large number of irrigators. This is expressed in terms of in-
creasing drilling and extraction costs for farmers as well as
complete drying and abandonment of some wells. Some stud-
ies indicate that up to 50% of the wells (especially open wells)
once in use in many parts of India have completely dried up.
In the Kupta Nala watershed, there are 834 wells of which
only 568 are functional. Nearly 32% wells have dried up
(Table 8). An unknown number of wells were drilled but never
used because of poor or no water yields. The continuous com-
petition between the farmers for limited groundwater is caus-
ing many problems such as wasteful expenditure in drilling
new wells. Such financial burden in this part adds to the
Arab J Geosci (2018) 11: 8 Page 13 of 15 8

Fig. 11 Irrigated crop area overlaid on the GWP map (Darwha block)

distress being faced for more than a decade, as farmer suicides
go unabated. The recharge potential map could substantially
help in decisions related to investments in the direct recharge
of abandoned open wells. State-sponsored financial
assistance/subsidy schemes for helping farmers in drilling
new wells could also utilize the information for judicious ex-
penditure. In nearby drought-affected districts like Parbhani,
nearly 10,000 tubewells were drilled in a single month (210
deep tubewells in 40–50 km 2 area) as reported by the
SANDRP (2015). We did not observe such high density dril-
ling in Darwha, but numerous instances of failed bores in the
existing open wells were narrated. The state legislation bans
drilling of new wells in 76 overexploited and 7 critical water-
sheds beyond 60 m depth. Though the study block does not
appear in this list, the potential map could be used in regulat-
ing the drills.

Table 7 Wells and irrigation statistics of the Kupta Nala watershed

Groundwater recharge Cultivated Number Number of Irrigated Percentage to total Well density
potential area (ha) of wells functional area (ha) irrigated area (number
wells per,ha)

Poor 2963 32 13 226 2 0.02

Poor to moderate 4586 294 178 2256 20 0.08
Moderate to high 2736 419 311 6985 61 0.16
High 419 89 66 1967 17 0.22
Total 10,845 834 568 11,434
8 Page 14 of 15
Table 8 Well statistics of Darwha block
Groundwater Number Functional
potential class of wells wells
Poor 32 13
Poor to moderate 294 178
Moderate to 419 311
high
High 89 66
Total 834 568
Conclusions
Intertwined with soil, geomorphology, slope, land use land
cover, drainage density, and topographical wetness data in
the GIS environment, groundwater potential zones were cate-
gorized for a study watershed with acceptable accuracy. A
three-step methodology was used that includes the develop-
ment of thematic layers, deriving the weights using AHP and
overlay analysis to delineate groundwater potential zone. In
the study area, four categories of the groundwater potential
zone have been delineated based on remote sensing, GIS,
and AHP techniques. More than 50% of the study block was
observed to have a moderate to high potential. These findings
were verified with well and irrigation data. Well density
corresponded positively with the delineated potential recharge
zone. The developed maps are recommended for use in the
groundwater development scheme run by the state. This will
reduce expenditure on drilling/digging open wells in low po-
tential zones and accurately identify beneficiary farmers for
groundwater development assistance. Similar maps could be
delineated for other watersheds located in the development
block/district using the devised method.
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