Assessment of groundwater potential over the Haryana region: GIS-AHP v/s field data

Nagal, Balbir; Prabhakar, Ajay Krishna; Pal, Mahesh

doi:10.22044/jme.2025.15657.3008

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra (Haryana), India

https://doi.org/10.22044/jme.2025.15657.3008

Abstract

This study delineates groundwater potential (GWP) zones across Haryana, India, for the year 2023 using geospatial techniques integrated with the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Multiple thematic layers, including slope, land use/land cover (LULC), soil, geology, drainage density (DD), lineament density (LD), elevation, rainfall, and topographic wetness index (TWI), were generated using datasets from SRTM, Sentinel-2, food and agriculture organization (FAO), and the India meteorological department (IMD) and weighted through the AHP. These layers were integrated using weighted overlay analysis (WOA) to generate the final GWP map. The GWP map was validated against field groundwater level (GWL) data from 646 wells recorded in 2018 by the central ground water board (CGWB), resulting in an accuracy of 77.55 percent. This confirmed the reliability of the geographic information system (GIS) and AHP technique. The study reveals that moderate GWP zones dominate (43.71%) the region, followed by high (33.24%) and very high (11.96%) zones, whereas low and very low GWP zones cover 7.59% and 3.51% of the area, respectively. The findings indicate that Haryana’s groundwater distribution is largely stable, with minor variation observed between 2018 and 2023. This shows stable aquifer behaviour and relatively unchanged recharge and extraction patterns over the five-year period. The outcomes of this study are valuable for strategic groundwater management, especially in arid and semiarid regions of Haryana state.

Keywords

Main Subjects

GIS & Remote Sensing

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Assessment of groundwater potential over the Haryana region: GIS-AHP v/s field data

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Volume 17, Issue 1January and February 2026Pages 27-42

Volume 17, Issue 1
January and February 2026
Pages 27-42