Identification of suitable sites for water harvesting structures in Upper Betwa watershed through WARIS

This article by Rajashree V Bothale deals with the identification of suitable sites for water harvesting structures in Upper Betwa watershed through WARIS. The present study uses decision support system WARIS for identification of suitable sites for water harvesting structures.

Various theme layers viz , landuse / landcover, soil, slope, hydrogeomorphology etc., which affect the identification of suitable sites were generated in Arc/INFO environment. The themes were then integrated to generate a composite coverage. A buffer of 1 km around second and third order drainage was constructed. Suitable weights were given to all the categories in each theme.

Three suitability zones viz most suitable, more suitable and suitable were generated from cumulative weighted value. Lineament map was also superimposed over the suitability zones. Various water harvesting structures like nala bund, anicuts, farm ponds etc were suggested in the area. WARIS has provided a guided flexible approach for identification of suitable sites making it versatile for any type of terrain.

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