Abstract
The assessment of rainwater-harvesting demand (RWHD) map and the identification of appropriate priority-based locations for rainwater-harvesting (RWH) and groundwater recharge structures are very crucial for the water managers, particularly in irrigation commands. This study addresses this challenge by using multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and geospatial techniques to present a novel and robust approach for generating RWHD map and identifying sites/zones for distinct RWH and groundwater recharge on a priority basis. Primary thematic layers such as existing irrigation water supply, irrigation demand, and groundwater potential were considered in this study for delineating RWHD zones. Further, sites suitable for RWH and groundwater recharge were identified using soil, slope, drainage network, and lineament thematic layers of the study area and they were prioritized. Four zones of rainwater demand were identified for the prioritization of RWH and groundwater structures: (a) “low” rainwater-harvesting demand zone (covering 3% of the total study area), (b) “moderate” rainwater-harvesting demand zone (40%), (c) “high” rainwater-harvesting demand zone (42%), and (d) “very high” rainwater-harvesting demand zone (15%). Moreover, 46 sites for check dams and 145 suitable sites for percolation tanks were identified, together with 253 ha area for groundwater recharge based on the priority of rainwater-harvesting demand. Integration of geospatial and MCDM techniques in conjunction with suitable thematic layers provides a helpful and realistic tool for large-scale planning and management of rainwater conservation measures.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akter A, Ahmed S (2015) Potentiality of rainwater harvesting for an urban community in Bangladesh. J Hydrol 528:84–93
Al-Adamat R, AlAyyash S, Al-Amoush H, Al-Meshan O, Rawajfih Z, Shdeifat A, Al-Harahsheh A, Al-Farajat M (2012) The combination of indigenous knowledge and geo-informatics for water harvesting siting in the Jordanian Badia. J Geogr Inf Syst 4:366–376
Aladenola OO, Adeboye OB (2010) Assessing the potential for rainwater harvesting. Water Resour Manag 24:2129–2137
Allen RG, Pereira LS, Raes D, Smith M (1998) Crop evapotranspiration guidelines for computing crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
Balkhair KS, Rahman KU (2019) Development and assessment of rainwater harvesting suitability map using analytical hierarchy process, GIS and RS techniques, Geocarto International, https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2019.1608591
CGWB (2001) Ground water year book of West Bengal (1999–2000). Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, New Delhi, pp 11–12
Cheng Q, Ko C, Yuan Y, Ge Y, Zhang S (2006) GIS modeling for predicting river runoff volume in ungauged drainages in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. Comput Geosci 32(8):1108–1119
Chenini I, Mammou AB, May ME (2010) Groundwater recharge zone mapping using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis: a case study in Central Tunisia (Maknassy Basin). Water Resour Manag 24:921–939
Chezgi J, Pourghasemi HR, Amir Naghibi SA, Reza Moradi H, Zarkesh MK (2015) Assessment of a spatial multi-criteria evaluation to site selection underground dam in the Alborz Province, Iran. Geocarto International 31(6):628–646
Chowdary VM, Rao NH, Sarma PBS (2005) Decision support framework for assessment of non-point-source pollution of groundwater in large irrigation projects. Agric Water Manag 75:194–225
Chowdary VM, Ramakrishnan D, Srivastava YK, Chandran V, Jeyaram A (2009) Integrated water resource development plan for sustainable management of Mayurakshi watershed, India using remote sensing and GIS. Water Resources Management 23(8):1581–1602
Chowdhury A, Jha MK, Chowdary VM (2010) Delineation of groundwater recharge zones and identification of artificial recharge sites in West Medinipur District, West Bengal using RS, GIS and MCDM techniques. Environmental Earth Science 58(6):1209–1222
Dastane NG (1974) Effective rainfall. FAO irrigation and drainage paper 25, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
De Winnaar G, Jewitt GPW, Horan M (2007) A GIS-based approach for identifying potential runoff harvesting sites in the Thukela River basin, South Africa. Phys Chem Earth 32(15–18):1058–1067
Eastman JR (2003) IDRISI Kilimanjaro: guide to GIS and image processing. Clark Laboratories, Clark University, Worcester, pp 145–177
Falkenmark M (2007) Shift in thinking to address the 21st century hunger gap moving focus from blue to green water management. Water Resour Manag 21:3–18
Falkenmark M, Rockström J (2006) The new blue and green water paradigm: breaking new ground for water resources planning and management. J Water Resour Plan Manag 132(3):129–132
Ghayoumian J, Saravi MM, Feiznia S, Nouri B, Malekian A (2007) Application of GIS techniques to determine areas most suitable for artificial groundwater recharge in a coastal aquifer in southern Iran. J Asian Earth Sci 30(2):364–374
Glendenning CJ, van Ogtrop FF, Mishra AK, Vervoort RW (2012) Balancing watershed and local scale impacts of rain water harvesting in India: a review. Agric Water Manag 107:1–13
GWREC (1997) Report of the Groundwater Estimation Committee. Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, New Delhi
GWREC (2009) Report of the Groundwater Estimation Committee. Groundwater Resource Estimation Methodology, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, New Delhi
Hajilal MS, Rao NH, Sarma PBS (1998) Planning intraseasonal water requirements in irrigation projects. Agric Water Manag 37:163–182
IWD (1987) Report of expert committee on irrigation. Irrigation and Waterways Department, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata
Jamali IA, Mörtberg U, Olofsson B, Shafique M (2014) A spatial multi-criteria analysis approach for locating suitable sites for construction of subsurface dams in Northern Pakistan. Water Resour Manag 28:5157–5174
Jha MK, Chowdary VM, Kulkarni Y, Mal BC (2014) Rainwater harvesting planning using geospatial techniques and multicriteria decision analysis. Resour Conserv Recycl 83:96–111
Kahinda MJ, Lillie ESB, Taigbenu AE, Taute M, Broto RJ (2008) Developing suitability maps for rainwater harvesting in South Africa. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 33(8 – 13):788–799
Kahinda MJ, Taigbenu AE, Sejamoholo BBP, Lillie ESB, Broto RJ (2009) A GIS-based decision support system for rainwater harvesting (RHADESS). Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 34(13 – 16):767–775
Kaliraj S, Chandrasekar N, Magesh NS (2015) Evaluation of multiple environmental factors for site-specific groundwater recharge structures in the Vaigai River upper basin, Tamil Nadu, India, using GIS-based weighted overlay analysis. Environmental Earth Science 74:4355–4380
Karimi H, Zeinivand H (2019) Integrating runoff map of a spatially distributed model and thematic layers for identifying potential rainwater harvesting suitability sites using GIS techniques. Geocarto International:1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2019.1608590
Loukas A, Mylopoulos N, Vasiliades L (2007) A modeling system for the evaluation of water resources management strategies in Thessaly, Greece. Water Resour Manag 21:1673–1702
Mahmoud SH, Tang X (2015) Monitoring prospective sites for rainwater harvesting and stormwater management in the United Kingdom using a GIS-based decision support system. Environ Earth Sci 73:8621–8638
Mbilinyi BP, Tumbo SD, Mahoo HF, Mkiramwinyi FO (2007) GIS-based decision support system for identifying potential sites for rainwater harvesting. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 32(15 – 18):1074–1081
Mendoza GA, Martins H (2006) Multi-criteria decision analysis in natural resource management: a critical review of methods and new modelling paradigms. For Ecol Manag 230(1-3):1–22
Nasiri H, Boloorani AD, Sabokbar HAF, Jafari HR, Hamzeh M, Rafii Y (2013) Determining the most suitable areas for artificial groundwater recharge via an integrated PROMETHEE II-AHP method in GIS environment (case study: Garabaygan Basin, Iran). Environ Monit Assess 185(1):707–718
NRSA Report (1999) Satellite remote sensing based evaluation study of Damodar Valley, Command (DVC) area. National Remote Sensing Agency, Department of Space, Government of India, Hyderabad-500037
Oweis T, Hachum A (2006) Water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved water productivity of dry farming systems in West Asia and North Africa. Agric Water Manag 80:57–73
Pereira JM, Duckstein L (1993) A multiple criteria decision-making approach to GIS-based land suitability evaluation. Int J Geogr Inf Syst 7(5):407–424
Ramakrishnan D, Bandyopadhyay A, Kusuma KN (2009) SCS-CN and GIS-based approach for identifying potential water harvesting sites in the Kali Watershed, Mahi River Basin, India. Journal of Earth System Science 118(4):355–368
Rana VK, Suryanarayana TMV (2020) GIS-based multi criteria decision making method to identify potential runoff storage zones within watershed. Ann GIS 26(2):149–168
Report T (2010) Technical report series B No 234, report on the dynamic groundwater resources of West Bengal as on 31/03/2009. Central Ground Water Board and SWID, West Bengal
Saaty TL (1980) The analytic hierarchy process. McGraw-Hill, New York
Samra JS, Sharda VN, Sikka AK (1996) Water harvesting and recycling: Indian experiences. Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun
Sayl KN, Muhammad NS, Yaseen ZM, El-shafie A (2016) Estimation the physical variables of rainwater harvesting system using integrated GIS-based remote sensing approach. Water Resources Management 30:3299–3313
Singh JP, Singh D, Litoria PK (2009) Selection of suitable sites for water harvesting structures in Soankhad watershed, Punjab using remote sensing and geographic information system (RS&GIS) approach: a case study. Journal of Indian Society of Remote Sensing 37:21–35
Singh LK, Jha MK, Chowdary VM (2017) Multi-criteria analysis and GIS modeling for identifying prospective water harvesting and artificial recharge sites for sustainable water supply. J Clean Prod 142:1436–1456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.11.163
Singh LK, Jha MK, Chowdary VM (2018) Assessing the accuracy of GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis approaches for mapping groundwater potential. Ecol Indic 91:24–37
Singh LK, Jha MK, Chowdary VM (2020) Evaluation of water demand and supply under varying meteorological conditions in Eastern India and mitigation strategies for sustainable agricultural production. Environment, Development and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00619-y
Statistical handbook (2012) Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics. Government of West Bengal, Kolkata
Steinel A, Schelkes K, Subah A, Himmelsbach T (2016) Spatial multi-criteria analysis for selecting potential sites for aquifer recharge via harvesting and infiltration of surface runoff in north Jordan. Hydrogeol J 24:1753–1774
The World Bank (2012) India groundwater: a valuable but diminishing resource. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/03/06/india-groundwater-critical-diminishing (accessed on 07.07.2020)
Toosi AS, Tousi EG, Ghassemi SA, Cheshomi A, Alaghmand S (2020) A multi-criteria decision analysis approach towards efficient rainwater harvesting. J Hydrol 582(124501):1–14
Tsanis IK, Naoum S (2003) The effect of spatially distributed meteorological parameters on irrigation water demand assessment. Adv Water Resour 26:311–324
UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) (2008) State of the world population, culture, gender and human rights. UNFPA, 108
Weersinghe H, Schneider UA, Low A (2010) Water harvest- and storage-location optimization model using GIS and remote sensing. In: Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Water Observation and Information System for Decision Support (BALWOIS2010), Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia, pp. 1–15
Wu R-S, Molina GLL, Hussain F (2018) Optimal sites identification for rainwater harvesting in northeastern Guatemala by analytical hierarchy process. Water Resour Manag 32:4139–4153
WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme) (2009) The United Nations world water development report 3: water in a changing world. UNESCO, Paris, p 349
WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme)/UN-Water (2018) The United Nations world water development report 2018: nature-based solutions for water. UNESCO, Paris
Yannian YU (1990) Hydrologic effects of forest, the hydrological basis for water resources management. In: Proceedings of the Beijing Symposium, IAHS pub. No. 197: 413–423
Acknowledgments
The authors sincerely thank the General Manager, RRSC-East, NRSC, ISRO, Kolkata; the Director, SWID, Kolkata; and the officials of Irrigation and Waterways Department, Government of West Bengal, for their kind cooperation and timely help in supplying necessary data for successful completion of this study. The authors are also thankful to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their critical suggestions for improving the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, L.K., Jha, M.K. & Chowdary, V.M. Planning rainwater conservation measures using geospatial and multi-criteria decision making tools. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 1734–1751 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10227-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10227-y