Using Decision Support System to Find Suitable Sites for Groundwater Artificial Recharge

Abstract:

Some parts of Iran are considered as one of the driest regions of the world, where water is a limiting factor for lasting life therefore using seasonal floodwaters is very important in these arid regions. On the other hand, special attention has been paid to artificial groundwater recharge in these regions. Floodwater spreading on the permeable terrain is one of the flood control and utilization methods. Determination of appropriate site for water spreading is one of the most important stages of this project. Parameters considered in the selection of groundwater artificial recharge locations are diverse and complex. These factors consist of earth sciences (geology, geomorphology and soils), hydrology (runoff, sediment yield, infiltration and groundwater conditions) and socio-economic aspects (irrigated agriculture, flood damage mitigation, environment, job creation and so on). Hence, decision making depends on criteria of diverse nature. The goal of this study is defining a Decision Support System for floodwater site selection in Shahriary area. Four main criteria were selected in this research which are floodwater characters, infiltration, water applications and flood damage. In order to determine the weight of factors, Analytical Hierarchy Process was used. The results showed that soil texture and floodwater volume of infiltration are the most important factors. After providing output maps which had been defined in five scenarios, Kappa Index was used to evaluate the model. Based on the obtained results, the maps showed an acceptable agreement with control zones.