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Development of potential map for groundwater abstraction in the northwest region of Bangladesh using RS-GIS-based weighted overlay analysis and water-table-fluctuation technique

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Abstract

The increasing trend of population growth along with the rapid groundwater-based agricultural expansion and decreasing trend of mean annual rainfall in the Northwest region of Bangladesh has been exacerbating the declination of groundwater for further expansion. Therefore, the present study attempts to demarcate the potential groundwater abstraction zones from the assessment of potential recharge and available recharge. Potential recharge was obtained with commonly used geospatial-based weighted linear combination (WLC) technique. Here, WLC analysis was based on eight factors related to physiographic (e.g. drainage density, lineament density, slope), geomorphologic (e.g. geomorphology, lithology, soil), land use and land cover (LULC) and hydrology (i.e. rainfall). Available net recharge was assessed for the period 1993–2017 by employing the water table fluctuation method. Finally, the resultant map on potential abstraction was characterized into five different classes, viz. ‘very low’, ‘low’, ‘moderate’, ‘high’ and ‘very high’. The derived map reveals that ‘very high’ potential zone is distributed along the Teesta river floodplain, especially the northeastern part. In contrast, the Barind Tract (i.e. the southwestern and the southcentral parts) area shows ‘very low’ groundwater prospect. Such fused interpretations are expected to contribute to the planning of integrated management of water resources.

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Acknowledgments

The study makes use of secondary data available at the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) under IFS (International Foundation for Science) funded research grant W 5582-1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Sara Nowreen, Imran Hossain Newton, Rashed Uz Zzaman, A. K. M. Saiful Islam & G. M. Tarekul Islam

  2. Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), Dhaka, 1206, Bangladesh

    Md. Saiful Alam

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  1. Sara Nowreen
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Nowreen, S., Newton, I.H., Zzaman, R.U. et al. Development of potential map for groundwater abstraction in the northwest region of Bangladesh using RS-GIS-based weighted overlay analysis and water-table-fluctuation technique. Environ Monit Assess 193, 24 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08790-5

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