Groundwater Potential Recharge Zone Mapping for the Wolf River Watershed, Tennessee

Khairul Hasan^{1, 2}, Sondipon Paul^2, , Khayrun Nahar Mitu¹ and Fuad Bin Nasir³

¹Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh

²Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Memphis, TN, USA

³Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Cite this paper

Khairul Hasan, Sondipon Paul, Khayrun Nahar Mitu and Fuad Bin Nasir. Groundwater Potential Recharge Zone Mapping for the Wolf River Watershed, Tennessee. American Journal of Water Resources. 2022; 10(1):17-23. doi: 10.12691/AJWR-10-1-3

Abstract

The article presents groundwater potential recharge zone analysis in the Wolf River watershed applying the Geographic Information System (GIS) technique. Six thematic layers: elevation, slope, drainage density, rainfall, land cover, and soil type are prepared and integrated for the spatial analysis. The analysis applies the multi-criteria-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to obtain each layer's weight. The thematic layers with the assigned weightage are overlain in a weighted overlay analysis to develop the study area's potential groundwater recharge zone map. Potential recharge zones are classified into four categories: very low, low, medium, and high. The result shows that the medium zone occupies a large portion of the watershed's central and southern regions. The study also reveals that the high and low zones cover a minimal watershed area. The findings can help policymakers make informed decisions for sustainable management of groundwater resources of the study area.

Keywords

Geographical Information System (GIS), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Potential Groundwater Recharge Zone Mapping, Watershed Delineation, Weighted Overlay.

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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