A modified approach to quantify aquifer vulnerability to pollution towards sustainable groundwater management in Irrigated Indus Basin

Muhammad Umar; Shahbaz Nasir Khan; Arfan Arshad; Rana Ammar Aslam; Hafiz Muhammad Safdar Khan; Haroon Rashid; Quoc Bao Pham; Abdul Nasir; Rabeea Noor; Khaled Mohamed Khedher; Duong Tran Anh

doi:10.1007/s11356-021-17882-9

A modified approach to quantify aquifer vulnerability to pollution towards sustainable groundwater management in Irrigated Indus Basin

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Apr;29(18):27257-27278. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-17882-9. Epub 2022 Jan 3.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Structures and Environmental Engineering, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
² Department of Structures and Environmental Engineering, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan. shahbaz.nasir.khan@uaf.edu.pk.
³ Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA.
⁴ Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
⁵ Institute of Applied Technology, Thu Dau Mot University, Binh Duong Province, Vietnam.
⁶ Department of Agricultural Engineering, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 34200, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha, 61421, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Civil Engineering, High Institute of Technological Studies, Mrezgua University Campus, 8000, Nabeul, Tunisia.
⁹ HUTECH University, 475A, Dien Bien Phu, Ward 25, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. ta.duong@hutech.edu.vn.

PMID: 34978039
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17882-9

Abstract

The quality of groundwater in the study watershed has worsened because of industrial effluents and residential wastes from the urbanized cities; therefore, there is an important need to explore the aquifer vulnerability to pollution for sustainable groundwater management in the Irrigated Indus Basin (IIB). This study proposed a novel methodology to quantify groundwater vulnerability using two fully independent methodologies: the first by reintroducing an improved recharge factor (R) map and the second by incorporating three different weight and rating schemes into a traditional DRASTIC framework to improve the performance of the DRASTIC approach. In the current study, we composed a recharge map from Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) output (namely SWAT recharge map) with a drainage density map to retrieve an improved composite recharge map (SWAT-CRM). SWAT-CRM along with other thematic layers was combined using weightage overlay analysis to prepare the maps of groundwater vulnerability index (VI). The weight scale (w) and rating scale (r) were assigned based on a survey of available literature, and we then amended them using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and a probability frequency ratio (PFR) technique. Results depicted that the region under high groundwater vulnerability was found to be 5-22% using traditional recharge maps, while those are 9-23% using improved SWAT-CRM. The area under the curve (AUC) revealed that groundwater vulnerability zones predicted with SWAT-CRM outperformed the DRASTIC model applied with the traditional recharge map. Groundwater electrical conductivity (EC) was>2500 mS/cm in the high groundwater vulnerability zones, while it was <1000 mS/cm in the low groundwater vulnerability zones. The outcomes of this study can be used to improve the sustainability of the groundwater resources in IIB through proper land-use management practices.

Keywords: Analytical hierarchy process (AHP); DRASTIC; Drainage density; Probability frequency ratio (PFR); SWAT; Vulnerability.

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring* / methods
Groundwater*
Soil
Water
Water Pollution / analysis
Water Supply

Substances

Soil
Water