Groundwater Extraction locating by GIS, DEMATEL and Analytical Network Process (ANP) (Case study: Ardabil Plain Basin)

Determining the proper locations for groundwater extraction in a region by using field observations, geo electric, geophysics and other similar methods, requires considerable time and cost. Determining the appropriate range and locations using existing data can play an important role in managerial decision making and decreasing the negative environmental impacts of groundwater resources extraction. In the current research, required data from organizations, field studies, and Geographic Information System (GIS) were prepared. Then, the potential of groundwater resources was obtained using the ArcGIS software, DEMATEL and Analytical Network Process (ANP) as a powerful Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods. ANP and DEMATEL methods have been used to determine the weight of different themes and their categorization classes to identify the potential groundwater abstraction area. Consequently, the study area was divided into seven sub basins in terms of potential of groundwater resources and change in groundwater consumption, using GIS software. Results showed that 1.94% of the basin has very weak potential, 21.5% weak potential, 39% average potential, 22% good potential, 11% very good, 4.54% excellent and 0.11% of it has a very high potential for groundwater extraction. Moreover, results indicated that land use change to agriculture and urban areas, which reduces the level of groundwater resources recharge, and high agricultural exploitation from groundwater sources were identified as the main causes of groundwater resources threatening in the studied basin.