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A Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis Approach for Locating Suitable Sites for Construction of Subsurface Dams in Northern Pakistan

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Abstract

Pakistan is an agricultural country with an increasing interest for hydropower. Water management problems such as sedimentation and evaporation have been of high concern for surface water reservoirs for many years. Therefore, groundwater storage through subsurface dams could be promising, especially considering the monsoon rainfall and seasonal river flows in Pakistan. The paper aims to develop and test a methodology to locate suitable sites for construction of subsurface dams using spatial multi-criteria analysis (SMCA) in the northern parts of Pakistan. For the study, spatial data on geology, slope, land cover, soil depth and topographic wetness index (TWI) was used. Two weighting techniques, i.e. the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the factor interaction method (FIM), were employed and compared. The sensitivity of the two methods as well as of the model parameters was analysed. The suitability map derived from AHP yielded about 3 % (16 km2) of the total area as most suitable, about 4 % (22 km2) as moderately suitable and about 0.8 % (5 km2) as least suitable. The suitability map derived from FIM identified about 2.7 % (14 km2) of the total area as most suitable, about 4 % (22 km2) as moderately suitable and about 1 % (7 km2) as least suitable. The sensitivity analyses suggested that AHP was a more robust weighting technique than FIM and that land cover was the most sensitive factor. The methodology presented here shows promising results and could be used in early planning to locate suitable sites for construction of subsurface dams.

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Acknowledgments

Lars Erik Lundbergs Scholarship Foundation (Dnr 2011/10, Dnr 2012/05, Dnr 2013/09, Dnr 2014/06) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan through Quaid-e-Awam University of Science and Technology, Nawabshah (QUEST/FDINP/EE&AF/10-751), Pakistan are acknowledged for funding this project. We are thankful to Caroline Karlsson, Emad Dehkordi, Xi Pang and Mårten Karlson for valuable inputs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Imran Ali Jamali, Ulla Mörtberg & Bo Olofsson

  2. National Center of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Muhammad Shafique

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  1. Imran Ali Jamali
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  2. Ulla Mörtberg
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Correspondence to Imran Ali Jamali.

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Jamali, I.A., Mörtberg, U., Olofsson, B. et al. A Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis Approach for Locating Suitable Sites for Construction of Subsurface Dams in Northern Pakistan. Water Resour Manage 28, 5157–5174 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0800-2

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