Potential of Karstic Water Resources Using RS, GIS and AHP (Case Study: Lilly and Kenno Anticlines in the North East of Khuzestan)

The discovery of groundwater resources as one of the ways of drinking water in the world is imperative and inevitable given the increasing need of the world for water.The objective this study is investigation of Karstic Water Resources Potential in the Leili-Keyno anticlines on the northeast of Khuzestan province. For this purpose, effective parameters of Karstic Water Resources Potential such as rainfall, lineament density, distance from lineament, slope, drainage density, lithology, land use and temperature are identified and evaluated. Using the expert group opinion and to help the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) The weight of effective layers in the potential of karst water resources was calculated: precipitation (0.331), linear density (0.261), distance from linearity (0.151), slope (0.098), water drainage density (0.064) , Lithology (0.047), vegetation (0.029) and temperature (0.024) and finally, Karstic Water Resources Potential map extracted with integration of related layers by overlapping in ArcGIS software and using the Raster Calculator module. Based on this method, the area is classified into five categories, viz. very high, high, moderate, poor and very poor. The northwest foreland (Garu formation) has the least potential. Springs and dolins are located in the areas with high potential in central part of the anticlins.