An integrated approach to groundwater potential-vulnerability mapping using AHP and DRASTIC.

Area of Science:

• Hydrogeology
• Environmental Science
• Water Resource Management

Background:

• Semi-arid groundwater resources face significant stress from over-abstraction and contamination.
• Existing methods often assess aquifer productivity and vulnerability in isolation, limiting effective management strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the integration of groundwater potential and intrinsic vulnerability for sustainable groundwater management.
• To develop a reliable spatial framework for the Halabja-Khwrmal area, Iraq.

Main Methods:

• Groundwater potential mapped using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with seven factors.
• Intrinsic vulnerability assessed using the standard DRASTIC model.
• Indices validated using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis and nitrate concentration data.

Main Results:

• AHP model showed acceptable discrimination of productive zones (AUC = 0.751).
• DRASTIC model demonstrated strong correlation with nitrate levels (R² = 0.797), confirming vulnerability reliability.
• Integrated Potential-Vulnerability zones revealed limited spatial overlap between high productivity and high vulnerability areas.

Conclusions:

• The integrated framework prevents masking effects and offers a transparent basis for groundwater management.
• The Potential-Vulnerability framework is transferable to other hydrogeologically diverse semi-arid aquifer systems.
• This approach supports regulated abstraction and priority protection for sustainable groundwater use.