Assessment of groundwater vulnerability mapping using AHP method in coastal watershed of shrimp farming area
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Assessment of groundwater vulnerability mapping using AHP method in coastal watershed of shrimp farming area Gangadharan R 1 & Nila Rekha P 2 & Vinoth S 3
Received: 8 January 2015 / Accepted: 23 November 2015 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2016
Abstract Groundwater regions in coastal aquifers are highly vulnerable with increase in urbanization, industrialization and sea water intrusion. The present study attempts to evaluate the vulnerability of groundwater in a coastal watershed of shrimp farming areas. The study area is categorized in the GIS-based AHP environment into three ranges (high, medium, and low vulnerability) using various groundwater parameters such as electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), sodium percentage (Na%), total hardness (TH), revelle coefficient, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), permeability index (PI), and residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and their recommended limits. GIS-based AHP weighted index overlay analysis technique has been proven to be a powerful tool to evaluate the distribution of groundwater vulnerability in the study area. The high vulnerable areas were noted in downstream with a strong contamination of the seawater intrusion along the coastal zone and in proximity of the river. Multivariate statistical techniques are also applied to identify and assess the groundwater vulnerability of the study area. The factor analysis revealed that groundwater quality is strongly affected by rockâwater interaction, saline water intrusion, and anthropogenic activities. The spatial distribution map of factor-scores showed the gradual variation in groundwater geochemistry
* Gangadharan R [email protected] 1
Department of Geology, Faculty of Natural and Computational Sciences, Bule Hora University, Bule Hora, Oromia region P.O. Box No: 144, Ethiopia
2
Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, 75, Santhome high road, Chennai 600028, India
3
Department of Mining Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004, India
from the western part (upstream) to the eastern part (downstream) of the river. The results from the present study revealed that shrimp farming areas have very least or no impact on the groundwater of the region. Keywords Groundwater . Vulnerability . Shrimp farming . GIS . AHP method . Coastal aquifers
Introduction The groundwater vulnerability in coastal environments is a major issue which governs the groundwater quality. The quality of groundwater is mainly determined by the amount of various chemical elements both major and trace, present in it, and ascertained by the ability to use it for domestic purpose. With the increasing population along the coastal environments, the demand for groundwater and their potential resources is in upstream demand. Groundwater aquifers being the major source of water supply along the coastal regions have been subjected to either over exploitation or contamination. The over exploitation may either be for domestic usage or industrial purposes. This ultimately results in lowering of groundwater t
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