Sustainable water resource planning in a sub-humid tropical watershed using geospatial and remote sensing techniques

Abstract

Improper usage of water resource leads to water stress conditions in sub-humid areas of India. For sustainable development, a coordinated and planned utilization of available water resource in these areas should be executed on the micro-watershed level. Thus an attempt has been made in this study for planning of available water resource in a subhumid watershed for judicious use of available water resource and sustainable agricultural growth. The study area was Ghumuda micro-watershed in Sundergarh block of Sundergarh district (Odisha). Using an integrated remote sensing (RS) and geo-informatics technology, several thematic maps like slope, land use / land cover (LU/LC), drainage, lineaments and hydro-geomorphology were developed. Using Arc-GIS software, integration and super imposition of these thematic maps were done to get the groundwater potential zone map. Four groundwater prospect zones were identified in the study area i.e. poor, moderate, good to moderate and very good. Based on lineament interaction points, seven tubewell construction sites were recommended for further groundwater development and year-round crop production. Overlaying all the thematic maps in the GIS environment, suitable locations for conservation structures like three nala bunds, nine percolation tanks, one check dam and two water harvesting structures were selected.