Identification of groundwater recharge sites in Latur district of Maharashtra in India based on remote sensing, GIS and multi-criteria decision tools

In this study, groundwater potential zones and artificial recharge zones were delineated and favourable sites for placing recharge structures were identified. Different thematic layers were generated using ArcGIS and were scrutinized by a multivariate technique called principal component analysis (PCA). Selected thematic layers and their features were assigned suitable weights on Saaty's 9-point scale and their normalized weights were obtained by Saaty's analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Selected thematic layers were integrated by weighted linear combination method to calculate groundwater potential index (GWPI) and groundwater recharge index (GWRI). Based on calculated GWPI, the study area was delineated into five groundwater potential zones, namely "poor", "moderate", "good", "very good" and "excellent", which cover 1.61%, 71.99%, 22.77%, 3.54% and 0.09% of the study area, respectively. Also observed that, the study area has an area of 5957.89 km(2) of moderate recharge zone. Further 34 artificial groundwater recharge sites are identified for effective groundwater management.