Author’s Accepted Manuscript

Delineating groundwater potential zones within the

Azraq Basin of Central Jordan using multi-criteria
GIS analysis

Abdel Al-Rahman Al-Shabeeb, Rida Al-Adamat,

A’kif Al-Fugara, Hani Al-Amoush, Saad AlAyyash
www.elsevier.com/locate/gsd

PII: S2352-801X(18)30013-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2018.03.011
Reference: GSD122
To appear in: Groundwater for Sustainable Development
Received date: 17 January 2018
Revised date: 29 March 2018
Accepted date: 29 March 2018
Cite this article as: Abdel Al-Rahman Al-Shabeeb, Rida Al-Adamat, A’kif Al-
Fugara, Hani Al-Amoush and Saad AlAyyash, Delineating groundwater potential
zones within the Azraq Basin of Central Jordan using multi-criteria GIS analysis,
Groundwater for Sustainable Development,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2018.03.011
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 1

Delineating groundwater potential zones within the Azraq Basin of Central Jordan using
multi-criteria GIS analysis

Abdel Al-Rahman Al-Shabeeb1, Rida Al-Adamat1*, A’kif Al-Fugara2, Hani Al-Amoush3, Saad
AlAyyash4
1
Department of GIS and Remote Sensing, Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Al al-
Bayt University, Mafraq, Jordan 25113
2
Department of Surveying Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Al al-Bayt University, Mafraq,
Jordan 25113
3
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Earth and Environmental
Sciences, Al al-Bayt University, Mafraq, Jordan 25113
4
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Al al-Bayt University, Mafraq,
Jordan 25113
*
Corresponding author. ridaali@aabu.edu.jo

Abstract

The present study was carried out in the central part of the Azraq Basin of Jordan to delineate the
various groundwater potential zones within this region. This study includes eight criteria; land
use, soil, slope, rainfall, elevation, lithology, lineament density and drainage density. Data and
information regarding these criteria were collated and ascertained through the employment and
utilisation of satellite imagery and digital mapping. The weighted linear combination (WLC)
technique was then employed to integrate these criteria within the GIS so that the area concerned
could be evaluated regarding its various hydrogeomorphic characteristics. A review of the
literature was then used to assess each of the criteria. Subsequently the criteria were assigned to
various parameters per their significance and rating regarding groundwater potentiality.

The delineated groundwater potential map was classified into four distinct zones, namely, low,
moderate, high, and very high potential zones. From the study findings it can be seen that
approximately17% of the area concerned in this study was shown to have very high groundwater
potential, while 2.181% has a low potential and 32.612%is categorised as having high
groundwater potential; the largest region was that of moderate groundwater potential, with

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48.207% of the land being categorised as such. Furthermore, the groundwater potential zones
map was verified against a map of existing wells to calculate the percentage of wells in each
potential zone. The results showed that approximately 2% of the existing wells were within low
potential zones, 66% were within moderate potential zones, 15% were within high potential
zones, and only 17% were within very high potential zones.
Keywords: Geographical information system; Weighted linear combination; Groundwater potential;
Remote sensing; Jordan

1. Introduction

Groundwater is a major resource for drinking water for two and a half billion individuals who are
entirely reliant on such resource for their daily water supply (Jac and van der Gar, 2012). For
populations inhabiting arid and semiarid climates areas, groundwater supplies are superior to
other types of water supply and hence it is the preferred source of water supplies. Groundwater is
an essential natural resource for any economic development in arid and semi-arid countries that
have a shortage in their water resources (Al Kuisi et al., 2014). As a rule, groundwater is of
higher quality and is better protected from possible pollution, including microbial contamination
and chemical pollution like Radon as indicated by Abu-Khader et al., (2018) in Al-Rsaifeh
within Amman-Zarqa basin and uranium and toxic metals during mining (Abed, et al., 2008)
Moreover, groundwater is less subject to seasonal and perennial fluctuations (Nampak et al.,
2014), especially in hot and dry regions where less water is available. Consequently, an
integrated groundwater management processes and practices are required. Hence, scientists,
academics, public individuals and politicians are responsible for forming and devising policies
and legislations to increase public awareness concerning groundwater availability. Such policies
and legislations are important due to the increasing scarcity of water and growing demands for
fresh water stemming from the negative impacts of climactic change and increasingly rapid
population growth. The development of groundwater resources requires studies and surveys that
identify areas with high potentials for groundwater exploration. Many conventional methods of
exploration, including the use of geological, hydrogeological, and geophysical techniques, have
been applied to groundwater investigations, and some techniques have shown more success than
others.

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In the last decade, the utilisation of certain geological geophysical and hydrogeological mapping
techniques has grown significantly; this is attributable to the considerable progression and
development of numerical modelling techniques as well as micro-processing technologies.

However, for the majority of groundwater studies, conventional methods are often not highly
reliable and are not considered for exploration despite their sometimes-spectacular success in
groundwater exploration. Furthermore, according to Nampak et al. (2014), Sander et al. (1996),
Singh and Prakash (2003), Oh et al. (2011) and Sander et al. (1996), this is attributable to the fact
that that investigations are often restricted due to limited finances and because of implementation
difficulties. El-Shamy et al. (1989) and Ndatuwong and Yadav (2014) stated that these surveying
techniques are unable to take into account certain movement, distribution and occurrence-related
factors controlling groundwater within the Earths rocks and soils. Consequently, the utilisation of
both GIS (Geographic Information Systems) modelling coupled with assimilation of both remote
sensing imagery and geologic and hydrogeological survey scan be utilized to predict potential
groundwater zones with efficacy, (Jasrotia et al. 2007 and Chowdhury et al. 2009; Hammouri et
al. 2014).

According to some researchers, like Jaiswal et al. (2003), Teevw (1999), Ganapuram et al.
(2009), Sener et al. (2005), Singh and Prakash (2003), Chowdhury et al. (2009) and
Krishnamurthy et al. (1996), users can now employ significant tools, information and collated
data through contemporary remote sensing and available GIS techniques to explore and find
groundwater potential sites. Chowdhury et al. (2009) and Jasrotia et al. (2007) have also both
noted the potential for utilising satellite imagery and aerial photography as useful means of
looking and investigation groundwater and hydrogeological investigation.

The objective of groundwater exploration through a remote sensing technique is to define every
indicator that may be related to the localisation of groundwater. Features related to groundwater
are extracted from the proper satellite imagery data and integrated with the thematic details
obtained from the imagery interpretation (Kato et al., 2014). Lithology, geomorphology,
lineament density, drainage pattern, soil texture, land use/cover, topographic slope, relief and
rainfall are some of the significant parameters that have been frequently used by researchers
(Saraf and Choudhury 1998; Musa et al. 2000; Srivastava and Bhattacharya 2006; Ettazarini,
2007; Nagarajan and Singh 2009; Ballukraya and Kalimuthu 2010). In the same manner,
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according to Singh and Prakash (2002), and Nampak et al. (2014), the increasingly ubiquitous
utilisation of GIS-based MDCA (multiple-criteria decision analysis), groundwater mapping
potentiality is now simple and straightforward process. According to Nampak et al. (2014), GIS
has powerful tools to handle large amounts of geographic data and can be used during the
decision analysis process of many projects, including landscape, site selection, geology and
environmental management.

A number of studies have been undertaken through utilisation of methods based on GIS to
determine and identify prospective groundwater mapping locations, of these the following studies
can be cited: Jasrotia et al. (2007), Muthukrishnan and Manjunatha (2008), Prasad et al. (2008),
Dinesh Kumar et al. (2007), Vijith (2007), Solomon and Quiel (2006), Pradhan (2009), Thomas
et al. (2009), Dar et al. (2011), Musa et al. (2000), Chowdhury et al. (2009), Srivastava and
Bhattacharya (2006), Madrucci et al. (2008), Ballukraya and Kalimuthu (2010), Manap et al.,
(2013), and Nampak et al. (2014). Among these methods is the use of the Weighted Linear
Combination (WLC) within GIS environment to select the best site for any project (Al-Shabeeb
2015; Al-Shabeeb 2016; Al-Shabeeb et al 2016; Eastman 1997; Al-Adamat, 2012).

WLC technique within GIS environment has been adopted for selecting and mapping the best
sites of groundwater potential at various parts of the world using selection criteria that include
land use, soil, slope, rainfall, elevation, lithology, lineament density and drainage density (Manap
et al, (2013); Chenini et al., (2010); Shirahatti, et al., (2010); Chowdhury et al. 2009., Ballukraya
and Kalimuthu, 2010; Srivastava and Bhattacharya, 2006; Musa et al. 2000., Nampak et al.,
2014).

The WLC method is comparatively simple; therefore this method was used for the groundwater
potential site selection process. The WLC technique is based on some processes which include,
standardising the suitability maps, assigning weights of relative importance to the suitability
maps, combining the weights and standardised suitability maps and obtaining a suitability score.
With weighted linear combination (WLC), factors are combined by employing a weight to each
criteria followed by a summation of the results yielding a suitability map (Al-Shabeeb, 2015).

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Another method to investigate groundwater potential is based on groundwater vulnerability

mapping. Several studies had focused on the use of groundwater vulnerability to contamination
within GIS environment. Examples of such studies are found in the literature (e.g. Al-Adamat et
al., (2003); Al Kuisi, et al., (2009), Al Kuisi and Abdel-Fattah, (2010); Al Kuisi et al., (2014);
Al-Shabeeb, (2015)). According to Al-Shabeeb, (2015), there is a relationship between
groundwater potential and groundwater vulnerability. If there is a potential site for groundwater,
this would mean that this area has a high groundwater vulnerability to contamination. Therefore,
the groundwater vulnerability maps can be used as an indication of groundwater potential.
DRASTIC is an overlay and indexing method which is widely used to assess groundwater
vulnerability to a wide range of potential contaminants (Al-Shabeeb at el., 2010). However, in
this study, the DRASTIC index was not utilized due to insufficient data for its parameters within
the study area (Al-Adamat et al., 2003).

This study aims to delineate groundwater potential zones within the Azraq Basin of Central
Jordan using multi-criteria GIS analysis.

2. Methods
2.1. Study Area

The Azraq Basin covers an area of about 12,710 km2; around 94% of it is located in Jordan, more
than 5% is in Syria and less than 1% is in Saudi Arabia (Figure 1) The study area is the southern
part of the Azraq Basin, which is located in the central part of Jordan. It covers an area of 7000
km2, which comprises 7.85% of the total area of Jordan. The study area is inhabited by more than
60,000 people who live in 32 towns, villages and small settlements.

The Azraq basin is characterized by dry and hot summer and cold and wet winter. The
precipitation falls between the months October through May with annual averages vary from less
than 50 mm in the southeastern parts of the basin to around 500 mm in the northwestern parts of
the basin in Jabal Al-Arab (Al-Naber, 2016).The groundwater in Azraq basin is found in different
aquifers, ranging from recent Quaternary Alluvium deposits to deep sandstone aquifer system
(lower cretaceous). The shallow aquifers consisting of Alluvium, Basalt and partially the Um-
Rijam (B4) aquifer complex, the water is a renewable in this system. The intermediate aquifer
consisting of upper cretaceous limestone formations (B2/A7) aquifer system. The water recharge

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to this aquifer is from the Druz mountains in Syria in the north, the highlands in west regions (
Amman and Madaba) and from the Southern highlands Karak and Tafila. (Salameh and
Bannayan, 1993). In the deep sandstone aquifer system, the water is relatively old and the aquifer
system is recharged from different sources. Since the Azraq area is forming a depression, all
these components are join in the underground water and flow eventually in a westerly direction to
the dead sea (Salameh and Bannayan, 1993).

Figure (2) shows a schematic cross sectional through Azraq oasis depicting the shallow aquifer
(Umm Rijam (A4)) and intermediate aquifer system ( Amman-Zarqa (B2/A7) and their
groundwater flow and hydraulically interconnection. Muwaqqar (B3) and Wadi El Shallala (B5)
aquiclude formations also depicted in Figure (2). Table (1) lists the major lithological and hydro
geological characteristics of the underground aquifers system in Azraq depression.

This area was chosen as a study area site because of several reasons, including the fact that the
area has recently experienced water shortages because of over-pumping for drinking water and
farm irrigation.

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Figure 1. Location map and Google Earth ® imagery for the study area

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Figure 2. Schematic cross section through Azraq oasis showing the subsurface hydro-geological
and groundwater flow movements (Modified after Salameh (1996)).

2.2.Adapted Data Collection and Analysis Methodology

In this study, eight criteria were used to select the potential sites for groundwater potential. The
selection criteria include Lineament Density (LD), Lithology (L), Rainfall (R), Topographic
Slope (TS), Elevation (E), Soil (S), Drainage Density (DD) and Land Use (LU). Table (2) lists
the importance of each criterion.

The thematic maps reflecting criteria that directly influence the groundwater potential were
prepared from collected data. The adopted reasoning is used to integrate and analyse the maps
and prepare a map showing areas suitable for potential groundwater.

Lineament map was acquired from the Higher Council for Science and Technology in Jordan
(1:250,000). Soil, lithological units and rainfall layers were obtained in vector format from the
Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre at a scale of 1:250,000. Elevation and topographic slope
were extracted from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model (SRTM
DEM) for the study area (downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS))
(https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/). The land use map for the study area was generated from Landsat
8 OLE (Operational Land Imager) satellite imagery from April 2017, which was also acquired
from USGS. After downloading the Landsat imagery for the study area (free of charge), the
image was imported to the ERDAS imagine Software. Within ERDAS image, the software was

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trained for three classes, and then the supervised classification was conducted. The resulted
image was then imported to ArcGIS and then used in the selection criteria. The drainage density
was generated based on the flow accumulation derived from the SRTM DEM.

The methodology used by Manap et al., 2013 and Nampak et al (2014) was adapted and modified
for the purposes of this study methodology, as depicted in Figure (3). Figure (3) shows that the
first step involved generating the thematic layers including Lineament Density, Slope, Elevation,
Land Use and Drainage Density

A review of the available literature was used, upon which the ratings and weights for the study
criteria were based.

In order to analyse the GIS layers and select the various groundwater potential zones, the ArcGIS
10.3 GIS software programme was used. All thematic layers were in Geographic Coordinate
Systems (lat/ long) (Datum: D_WGS_1984).

The Weighted Linear Combination method (WLC) based on Equation (1) was used in this study
to generate the suitability map. According to a study by Eastman et al. (1995), in the WLC
method, criteria are combined by applying a weight and rating to each map and summing the
results to produce a suitability “S” map.

S = (LDw×LDr) + (Lw×Lr) + (Rw×Rr) + (TSw×TSr) + (Ew×Er) + (Sw×Sr) + (DDw×DDr) +

(LUw×LUr) ……………………………………………………………………………… (1)

where S is suitability, w is the weight of the criterion and r is the rating of the criterion. LD is
Lineament Density, L is Lithology, R is Rainfall, TS is Topographic Slope, E is Elevation, S is
Soil, DD is Drainage Density and LU is Land Use.

As can be seen in Figure (3), the following operations were conducted within GIS environment to
select the potential groundwater sites within the investigated area:

 The line density function in ArcGIS was used to calculate the Lineament (LD) (Figure 4.a)
and Drainage (DD) densities (Figure 4.g), which then classified based on Table (3) by giving
each class the appropriate rating. The outcome of this operation was then multiplied by each
parameter weight (9 for LD and 3 for DD). LD values varied between 36 to 90, while DD
values varied between 12 to 27.

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 The Lithological units (L) (Figure 4.b), Rainfall (R) (Figure 4.c) and Soil (S) (Figure 4.f)
maps were subjected to GIS manipulation by adding the appropriate ratings based on Table
(3). Such operation include adding a new field into the attribute table of each layer and then
update this field by the proper ratings. These layers were converted to raster format based on
the new field values and then multiplied by their weights (8 for L, 8 for R and 3 for S). The
L values varied between 40 to 72, R has a single value of 40 since the entire investigated area
receives less than 225 mm annually and the S values varied between 12 to 21.
 The Topographic Slope (TS) (Figure 4.d) and Elevation (E) (Figure 4.e) maps for the
investigated area were extracted from the ASTER DEM. The cell values for both slope and
elevation were classified based on Table (3) and multiplied by the appropriate parameter
weight (4 for TS and 4 for E). The TS values varied between 18 and 32, while the E values
varied between 16 and 24.
 As discussed earlier, the Land Use (LU) map (Figure 4.h) was generated for the study area
using the supervised classification in ERDAS IMAGINE software and then imported to
ArcGIS and reclassified based on Table (3). The resulted layer was multiplied by its weight
(2). It appears that LU values varied between 8 and 14.

Figure (5) illustrates each criterion’s final map, while the final groundwater potential zone map
is depicted in Figure (6). Figure (6) is the result of summing all parameters in GIS and then
classifying the output. The output was classified into four classes; low with values between 180
and 215, moderate (215 to 250), high (250 to 285) and very high with values between 285 and
320.

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Figure 3. Data analysis flowchart

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Figure 4. Used thematic layers

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Figure 5. The GIS analysis for each layer (multiplying the weight by ratings) and summation

3. Research findings and Discussion

The research area’s zones for groundwater potential can be seen depicted in Figure (6). The
figure shows the low, high, very high and moderate groundwater potential zones. As can be seen,
just 2.18% of the area concerned in this study were low groundwater potential zones, with high
zones representing 32.6%, moderate zones representing 48.21% and very high groundwater
potential zones representing 17% of the total study area.

The model was validated using the location of 501 wells within the study area. Just 10 of these
501 wells were found to exist within the low, 331 within moderate, 75 within the high and 85

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within the very high groundwater potential zones (Table 4). Hence the model is valid as it
indicates that 98% of wells exist in groundwater potential zones.

Figure 6. Map of the Azraq Basin with zones with differential groundwater potential

4. Conclusion and Recommendations

The natural environment of Jordan is semiarid because there is limited precipitation and therefore
limited surface water. Hence, groundwater is considered the primary water resource in the
country. Integrated use of remote sensing and GIS for delineation of groundwater potential zones
in this study proved efficient in terms of minimizing cost, time, and labor. Eight different

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thematic layers, namely, rainfall, slope, soil, land use, lineament density, drainage density,
lithology and elevation, are prepared in GIS to delineate groundwater potential zones map of the
central part of the Azraq Basin of Jordan. The results of this study showed that there are four
classes of groundwater potential in the study area, namely, low, moderate, high and very high. Of
the region concerned within this study, 2.181% of the area is categorised as being a low
groundwater potential area; 49.6% as a very high groundwater potential area or high groundwater
potential area and 48.207% as a moderate groundwater potential area. Additionally, 2% of
groundwater wells exist within the low groundwater potential areas, 66% within the moderate
groundwater potential areas, 15% within the high groundwater potential areas, and 17% fall
within the very high groundwater potential areas.

The outcomes of the present study could be utilized for developing prospective guidelines for
designing and implementing recharge projects within the region concerned. Hence it guarantee
ongoing, maintainable, and sustainable use of groundwater resources. Jordan is a developing
nation; its means and resources and infrastructure are not as strong as developed nations and its
informational resources are middling or poor; data and information are rare or scarce and so this
study and its findings may be employed so that decisions can be made fast and effectively for
future water management in the future.

Based on these results, it is concluded that GIS could help Jordan and similar countries to select
potential sites for groundwater. This method will minimize the cost and time needed to explore
large areas using traditional methods. Hence, it is recommended to use GIS for water related
projects in Jordan and to conduct fieldwork in the area classified as very high potential to verify
the outcomes of this study. It is also recommended to examine the productivity of the
groundwater wells within the various potential zones to validate the outcomes of this study and
use the outcomes of this study as a base map for further investigation of groundwater in the study
area.

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Table 1. Major lithological - hydrogeological units of the shallow aquifer in the Azraq basin area
(Modified after Gibbs, 1993).

Hydraulic Thickness Lithology Age Geological

Character (m) Formation
Aquifer 0 - 20 Sands and gravel Recent Alluvium
Quaternary
Aquifer 0 - 400 Basalt Lower Tertiary Basalt
Aquifer 0 - 15 Weathered limestone Lower Eocene Um Qirma (B5)
Aquiclude 160 - 430 Marl and Chalk Lower Eocene Wadi El Shallala
(B5)
Aquifer 170 - 300 Argillaceous silicified Mid-Eocene Umm Rijam (B4)
limestone
Aquiclude > 100 Marly limestone Early Eocene Muwaqqar (B3)
Aquifer > 150 Limestone U . Cretaceous Amman-Zarqa
(B2/A7)
Aquifer Deep Sandstone L . Cretaceous Kurnub (Deep
Aqifer)

Table 2. The potential impact of each criterion used in this research

Criterion Potential impact Reference
The higher values of lineament density the more infiltration rate Al-Adamat and
LD to groundwater will take place by allowing surface water to Al-Shabeeb,
reach the water table (Table 3 and Figure 3). (2017)
Different lithological units were found in the study area (Figure. Hammouri et al.
2). Based on the lithological characteristics, the highly porous (2014)
L and permeable units are given higher score for a potential
groundwater occurrence (Table 3). Figure 3 shows the spatial
distribution of the classified scores of lithology.
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Rainfall is the major source for groundwater recharge. Hence, Al-Adamat and
R the higher the groundwater recharge the more potential for Al-Shabeeb,
groundwater occurrence (Table 3 and Figure 3). (2017)
The topographic slope refers to the variability of land surface. It Hammouri et al.
is a major criterion that control the infiltration process of surface (2014)
TS water into the subsurface. As listed in Table (3), the lower the
slope the more potential for surface water infiltration and hence
higher potential for groundwater occurrence (Figure 3).
High groundwater potential are confined to areas of lower Dutta, (2015)
E elevations whereas areas of low groundwater potential exist
within the high Elevation areas (Table 3 and Figure 3).
Soil highly impact the amount of recharge water that infiltrates Hammouri et al.
into groundwater. The coarser grain size soils as sand and (2014)
S coarse sandy increase the infiltration rates to groundwater and
consequently increase groundwater potential. While, finer grain
size soils as clay decrease infiltration rates to the groundwater
(Table 3 and Figure 3).
Drainage density influences runoff potential. Low drainage Al-Adamat and
DD density means low potential for runoff and therefore high Al-Shabeeb,
infiltration rates and groundwater potential (Table 3 and Figure (2017)
3).
Land uses highly influence surface water runoff. Therefore, Hammouri et al.
certain types of land uses increase runoff potential such as urban (2014)
LU areas, while other types (Farmed areas) decrease runoff which
allow surface water to reside longer time and hence increase
infiltration rate to groundwater (Table 3 and Figure 3).

Table 3. Criteria-assigned ratings and weights (Modified for the investigated area from Manap et
al., 2013 and Nampak et al (2014))
Weight Ratings w×r
Map Class
(w) (r)
> 0.0075 10 90
0.0055 - 0.0075 8 72
Lineament Density
2 9 0.0035 - 0.0055 7 63
(km/ km )
0.0015 - 0.0035 5 45
< 0.0015 4 36
Schist, phyllite, slate, alluvium 9 72
Limestone/ marble, basalt 8 6
Lithology 8
Schist,/phyllite, schist, volcano 6 48
Acid intrusive, Mudflat 5 40
Rainfall (mm) 8 < 225 5 40
<5 8 32
5 -15 7 28
Slope (Degree) 4
15 - 25 5 20
25 - 35 4 16

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100 - 500 6 24
Elevation (m) 4
500 - 1000 4 16
Sandy Clay/ Coarse Sandy Clay - Clay 7 21
Soil 3 Sandy loam - Sandy clay 5 15
Fine Sandy Clay loam/ Fine Sandy Clay 4 12
< 0.0010 9 27
0.0010 - 0.0025 8 24
Drainage Density
3 0.0025 - 0.0040 6 18
(km/ km2)
0.0040 - 0.0055 5 15
> 0.0055 4 12
Farms 7 14
Land Use 2 Other Crop/ Manmade dam 6 12
Clear Land/ Urban Area 4 8

Table 4. Groundwater potential zones and wells within each zone

Groundwater Potential Zone Area (km2) % of total area ≠ of wells % of wells
Low 152.6 2.18 10 2
Moderate 3374.7 48.21 331 66
High 2282.7 32.61 75 15
Very High 1190 17 85 17
Total 7000 100 501 100

Highlights

 Groundwater is vital for individuals who live in arid and semiarid areas,
 Multi-criteria GIS analysis were used to delineate a map for groundwater potential within the
Azraq Basin of Central Jordan.
 The integrated use of remote sensing and GIS for delineation of groundwater potential zones
in this study proved efficient in terms of minimizing cost, time, and labor.
 Groundwater potential map could be verified using a map of existing wells to calculate the
percentage of wells in each potential zone.
 The outcomes of the present study could be utilized for developing prospective guidelines for
designing and implementing recharge projects within the region concerned.

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Graphical abstract

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