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Environmental Science and Pollution Research Site selection of check dams

using geospatial techniques in Debre Berhan region, Ethiopia -water
management perspective

Article  in  Environmental Science and Pollution Research · November 2021

DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17232-9x

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17232-9

EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS IN GEOSPEHERE: IMPACT

AND MANAGEMENT

Site selection of check dams using geospatial techniques in Debre

Berhan region, Ethiopia — water management perspective
Bagyaraj Murugesan1   · Tenaw Mengistie Alemayehu1 · Gnanachandrasamy Gopalakrishnan2,3   ·
Sang Yong Chung4   · Venkatramanan Senapathi5   · Selvam Sekar6   · Hussam Eldin Elzain4 ·
Sivakumar Karthikeyan7 

Received: 25 June 2021 / Accepted: 22 October 2021

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
Remote sensing and GIS technology were very helpful to determine an appropriate location of freshwater storage in Amhara,
Ethiopia. The techniques were used to investigate the impact of lithology, surface geomorphology, slope parameters, drainage
flow, drainage density, lineament density, land cover parameters on relief, and aerial and linear features and to understand
their interrelationships. Morphometric parameters such as mean stream length (Lsm), stream length ratio (RL), bifurcation
ratio (Rb), mean bifurcation ratio (Rbm), relief ratio (Rh), drainage density (Dd), stream frequency (Fs), drainage texture
(Rt), form factor (Rf), circularity ratio (Rc), and elongation ratio (Re) were calculated. Spatial maps of morphometric param-
eters were produced by using AHP (analytical hierarchy process) of ArcGIS 10.3. Final priority map was generated by the
overlay of those parameters with five categories of poor (16.6%), low (41.63%), moderate (29.61%), high (8.88%), and very
high (3.28%) storage locations. The map showed that this study area belonged to the low to moderate storage location. The
results exhibit precision-based assessment of the suitability for the dam construction sites of 6, 7, and 9 sub-basin zones.
The outcome of this study strengthens the knowledge of geospatial analysis for water resources vulnerability and also allows
policymakers in this drought-prone area to sustainably manage water supplies.

Keywords  Check dam · Remote sensing · GIS · Watershed · Morphometric parameters

Introduction 2.6 BCM of water from the total annual precipitation of

Ethiopia has many biblical references and other ancient writ-
ings. In the past of 7000 BC, Ethiopia was called Aksum
or Abyssinia. Cushitic and Omotic people already inhab-
ited Ethiopia. Ethiopia is one of the world’s oldest civiliza-
tions. However, the majority of its population has remained
unchanged since the first millennium until today; it is mostly
an agricultural society. Ethiopia contributes about 86% of
the water flow to the Nile River, making it the “Land of
Blue Gold” and hydrologically the richest country in Africa
(Yohannes 2009). Ethiopian people use about 112 billion
cubic meter (BCM) of surface water in combination with
Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues
* Sang Yong Chung
chungsy@pknu.ac.kr
Extended author information available on the last page of the article
315 mm. Unfortunately, just 1% of this large amount of
available water resources is used in the form of hydroelec-
tric power and irrigation (Yohannes 2009). Although this
country has enough quantity of water resources, the quality
of water is in crisis. Rapid population growth, rapid industri-
alization, lack of adequate sewerage systems, and poor living
conditions have generated the poor water quality. There is
a great demand for clean water in Ethiopia, and the capital
Addis Ababa alone has a supply shortage of 50%. It was also
noted that ammonia, nitrates, chlorides, and total unwanted
coliforms were commonly found in Ethiopian water supplies
due to their anthropogenic activities (Abiye 2008). Shape,
size, and height of the watershed are the critical parameters
for controlling natural resources of land and water. Land and
drainage types, soil cover, land use, surface, and subsurface
water resources are essential factors for the development
plan of water management. Geospatial analysis is the most
innovative technology to be adopted for the improvement,

13
Vol.:(0123456789)

management, and research on the control areas (Biswas et al.
1999). Morphometric study was useful for the purpose of
water management and sustainable usage techniques (Abiye
2008).
Morphometric studies include estimation of stream den-
sity, length and width by measuring different properties
of streams such as assessment of different watercourses,
and evaluation of total regional basins. These studies also
involve the boundary of the basin, the distance of the
drainages, the thickness of drainage (Dd), the frequency
of drainage (Ku), the texture ratio (T), the bifurcation ratio
(Rb), and the circularity ratio (RC) (Kumar et al. 2000).
The river basins are distinctive morphological areas and
especially crucial for watershed studies (Doornkamp and
Cuchlaine 1971; Strahler 1937; Venkatramanan et  al.
2013; Selvam et al. 2016; Venkatramanan et al. 2019). The
Horton stream length law proposes an association between
geomorphic units of streams in drainage orders and the
following landforms (Horton 1945). The total quantity of
the basins is described as basin morphometric, and it is
characterized by inclination of the channel network and
slope of the drainage basin. A thorough survey of drain-
age boundaries helps to understand the influence and
morphometric features on the different landforms. Thus,
watershed is an appropriate unit for monitoring natural
resources and planning sustainable development (Patel
et al. 2012). It is one of the actual hydrological bodies,
for instance, water structures (surface runoff) like canals,
drainages, and rivers (Chopra et al. 2005).
The geospatial technology mainly assists in creating
and storing the databank for several watersheds. It is
beneficial for the preparation of different thematic maps
and the spatial analysis in order to take essential measures
for seriously affected areas (Thakkar and Dhiman 2007;
Gnanachandrasamy et  al. 2018; Magesh et  al. 2011;
Dortaj et  al. 2020; Srivastava et  al. 2011; 2012a, b, c;
Mukherjee et al. 2009, 2007). Geospatial technology serves
as a real spatial data amalgamation tool for developing
and demonstrating required outputs (Gupta et al. 1997;
Srivastava et al. 2010; Pandey et al. 2012; Thakur et al.
2012; Venkatramanan et al. 2019; Sivakarun et al. 2020).
Remote sensing and GIS techniques are used to examine
the placement of the dam using morphometric analysis,
prioritizing watersheds, to identify an appropriate
watershed at high flow conditions due to heavy rainfall
(Nooka Ratnam et al. 2005). Patel et al. (2012) studied
the suitable crop sites in Varekhadi watershed of Tapi
Basin in Surat district of Gujarat using digital elevation
model (DEM) created at Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission (SRTM) with the slope and soil maps. However,
the classification of different structural regions for water
management has not been determined yet. The concept of
priority survey helps to understand the morphology of the
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Environmental Science and Pollution Research
watersheds (Hlaing et al. 2008; Javed et al. 2011; Brooks
et al. 2006). GIS helps to locate the ideal location for water
harvesting (Chowdary et al. 2009; Kumar et al. 2008).
Morphometric analysis and watershed layout are critical for
water modules and flood evaluation studies (Youssef et al.
2011; Miller and Craig Kochel 2010; Bali et al. 2012).
AHP is a widely used multi-criteria weighting technique for
spatial decision-making (Wu et al. 2017). In complex decision-
making, AHP is applicable on the basis of mathematical
formulation, which organizes and analyzes the relative value
of the variable set (Triantaphyllou and Mann 1995). Hoque
et al. (2020) have successfully developed and evaluated a
multi-criteria integrated spatial drought vulnerability mapping
system that integrates all drought categories using AHP and
geospatial techniques in the northwestern part of Bangladesh.
Prabakaran et al. (2020) and Agastheeswaran et al. (2021)
have used an AHP technique integrated with geographic
information system (GIS) to identify the potable groundwater
as well as groundwater potential zones in the rural areas of
southern India. However, limited studies have used the AHP
method in drought vulnerability assessment, particularly in
the present study area.
To address the drinking water crisis in the study area,
the construction of check dams along river channels is
an appropriate management technique. Construction of
retaining dams along the drainage channels stops the
runoff water, which also increases the surface area of
standing water. Optimally, the conservation of run-
off water supports surface freshwater use, stimulates
recharge, and improves groundwater quality (Parima-
larenganayaki et al. 2015). This study aims to determine
a suitable site for the construction of a dam to manage
surface water resources in Amhara, Ethiopia. The objec-
tive focuses on the categorization of micro-watersheds
and morphometric parameters in remote sensing and GIS
environments (Osborne and Wiley 1988; Johnson et al.
2002; Abiye 2008; Gupta and Srivastava 2010; Bagyaraj
and Gurugnanam 2011; Dawod et al. 2012; Abbasi et al.
2019; Bagyaraj et al. 2019; Senthilkumar et al. 2019;
Yuan et al. 2019; Rahmati et al. 2019; Jeyavel Rajaku-
mar et al. 2020; Senthil Kumar et al. 2020).
The results of this study may be helpful in designing
rainwater collection systems to prevent soil erosion, to
improve groundwater quality through recharge, and to
reduce overall runoff from the watershed. GIS and RS were
used to determine the appropriate location for water storage
facilities, which had the advantage of saving cost and time,
especially in remote areas. The morphometric study was
primarily used to select sites for dam construction and to
control overflow during floods. Quantitative assessment
of drainage systems is essential to characterize the
watershed. Such a representation of the watershed plays
an important role in estimating hydrologic behavior and
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
planning the hydrologic model. Many researchers and
scientists have recently used the results of remote sensing
studies to improve their understanding of the morphometric
characteristics of various catchments (Krishnamurthy
et  al. 1996). These advanced geospatial, GIS, and RS
technologies have become the practical solving tools for
the problems of land and water resources. The dam sites
have been proposed to secure water resources for irrigation
and domestic purposes during the drought period.
Study area
Debre Berhan is a city in central Ethiopia and Woreda,
formerly known as Debra-Berhan or Bernam. It is located
in the Semien Shewa, Amhara region, 130  km south-
west of Addis Ababa. The study area lies between longi-
tude 39°32′′ E 9°41′′ N and has an area of 2330.86 ­k m 2
(Fig. 1). The city Debre Berhan was the ancient capital of
Fig. 1  Appropriate site selection for dam construction at Debre Berhan region, Ethiopia
Ethiopia and is now the administrative center of Semien
Shewa Zone in the Amhara region. The average annual
rainfall is 964 mm (Fig. 2) with an average temperature
of 14.4  °C. This area is mostly covered by hills with
small plains. The high altitude area is a hilly terrain slop-
ing down to the east and southeast. The highest altitude
of 3700 m above mean sea level is located in the south-
west of the study area.
The Beressa River is one of the rivers that struggle
with pollution. This river divides the city of Debre
Berhan into northern and southern parts, making the city
residents directly or indirectly dependent on this river.
The residents of Debre Berhan depend on this river for
industrial activities, drinking water, irrigation, washing,
and sanitation. Along the river, various organized
socioeconomic activities are carried out by different
communities discharging their effluents into the river.
There are some small dams in this region, but they are
not sufficient for irrigation purposes. Regular monitoring
13

Fig.2  Spatial rainfall map of Debre Berhan region, Ethiopia
of the system is essential to mitigate the many impacts
of water resources and to use the resource efficiently. In
Ethiopia, the Ministry of Water Resources is responsible
for the protection of the water environment, the use
and efficient distribution of these resources, and the
promotion of sustainable development of water resources.
On basis of these points, the Debre Berhan Beressa River
should have attracted great attention among the various
water bodies in the country.
Geology
The principal rocks of this region are basalt and gorgo-
ignimbrite, which account for 65% of the total area.
The hard rock aquifers are characterized by low per-
meability and low specific yield. The geology consists
of alluvium, sandstone, ignimbrite, and basalt (Fig. 3).
13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
The greater part of the basaltic rock is hard and com-
pact, while the vesicular part is filled with minerals
(amygdaloidal form). The weathering and fracturing
of the massive vesicular basalt is the major source
of aquifers because its secondary openings act as an
aquifer. Long-term weathering of ignimbrites results
in landslides. The sedimentary rocks exhibit an eluvial
landform. The soil types consist of Andosols, Cambi-
sols, and Regosols. Spatially, Andosols are found in
the northeast, Cambisols in the southwest, and Rego-
sols in the middle and northwest of the region, while
Leptosols, Luvisols, Gelisols, Fluvisols, Nitisols, and
Vertisols were observed in the nearby areas. The water
potential varies from high to very low potential zone.
Rainfall data collected from 2010 to 2019 shows that
the maximum rainfall was 73.94 mm per d­ ay −1 in 2016
with the annual average of 3.40 mm per ­d ay −1 .
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Fig.3  Geological characteristics of Debre Berhan region, Ethiopia
Materials and methods
Data collection
Multiple data sources were used to prepare different
thematic layers of influencing factors. LANDSAT data
(LANDSAT™ Collection 1 — Path: 168 Row: 53 for
Scene: LT05_L1TP_168053_20110822_20161007_01_
T1) were used for the classification of land use cover and
the extraction of lineaments. Slope, geomorphology, and
drainage maps illustrate the use of DEM (SRTM) with
30-m resolution. Results are verified and validated through
several field trips. The geological map was collected from
the Geological Survey of Ethiopia. Remotely sensed
records were corrected with respect to the topological
sheet. For a detailed interpretation of the stream order,
the image enhancement technique was adopted. Drainage
layer was extracted by ARC/INFO (ver.10.2) tools, and
the entire streams were categorized by adopting stream-
ordering features (Strahler 1964).
The drainage channel segments were assigned with
the help of ArcGIS software. ArcGIS tools were used for
calculating the basin area (A), stream length (L), perim-
eter (P), and length of the basin (Lb). The morphometric
parameters such as roughness number (Rn), drainage
density (Dd), bifurcation ratio (Rb), stream frequency
(Fs), texture ratio (Rt), form factor (Rf), circulatory ratio
(Rc), elongation ratio (Re), and channel maintenance
constant (C) were assessed by equations established in
Table. 1.
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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Table 1  Methodology adopted for computations of morphometric parameters

S. no Morphometric parameters Formula Reference

1 Stream order Hierarchical rank Strahler (1964)

2 Stream length (Ls) Length of the stream Horton (1945)
3 Mean stream length (Lsm) Lsm = Lu / Nu Strahler (1964)
where Lsm = Mean stream length
Lu = Total stream length of order ‘u’
Nu = Total no. of stream segments of order “u”
4 Stream length ratio (RL) RL = Lu / Lu – 1 Horton (1945)
where RL = Stream length ratio
Lu = The total stream length of the order “u”
Lu – 1 = The total stream length of its next lower order
5 Bifurcation ratio (Rb) Rb = Nu / Nu + 1 Schumm (1956)
where Rb = Bifurcation ratio
Nu = Total no. of stream segments of order “u”
Nu + 1 = Number of segments of the next higher order
6 Mean bifurcation ratio (Rbm) Rbm = Average of bifurcation ratios of all orders Strahler (1957)
7 Relief ratio (Rh) Rh = H / Lb Schumm (1956)
where Rh = relief ratio
H = Total relief (relative relief) of the basin in kilometers
Lb = Basin length
8 Drainage density (Dd) D = Lu / A Horton (1932)
where D = Drainage density
Lu = Total stream length of all orders
A = Area of the basin (­ km2)
9 Stream frequency (Fs) Fs = Nu / A Horton (1932)
where Fs = Stream frequency
Nu = Total no. of streams of all orders
A = Area of the basin (­ km2)
10 Drainage texture (Rt) Rt = Nu / P Horton (1945)
where Rt = Drainage texture
Nu = Total no. of streams of all orders
P = Perimeter (km)
11 Form factor (Rf) Rf = A / Lb2 Horton (1932)
where Rf = Form factor
A = Area of the basin (­ km2)
Lb2 = Square of basin length
12 Circularity ratio (Rc) Rc = 4 * Pi * A / P2 Miller (1953)
where Rc = Circularity ratio
Pi = “Pi” value, i.e., 3.14
A = Area of the basin (­ km2)
P2 = Square of the perimeter (km)
13 Elongation ratio (Re) Re = 2 v (A / Pi) / Lb Schumm (1956)
where Re = elongation ratio
A = Area of the basin (­ km2)
Pi = “Pi” value, i.e., 3.14
Lb = Basin length

Data interpretation Saaty’s Fundamental Scale (1980), the components of the

The integration of the AHP methodology with GIS allows
the priority of thematic maps (criteria) for morphometric
analysis to be ordered using weights. This methodology is
illustrated in Fig. 3. The maps (criteria) were assigned to
classes (sub-criteria) and ranked according to their impact
on water resources management. The hierarchy is defined
using a series of matrices comparing all criteria. Using
matrices are ranked according to their importance. The rela-
tive importance scores are determined using the scale from
1 to 9 (Saaty 1980), where a score of 1 represents an equal
contribution of the two criteria (thematic maps) and a score
of 9 indicates the greatest influence of one thematic map
compared to the others (Pinto et al. 2017). Saaty (1980)
points out that even if an objective preference scale is used,
the analyst’s evaluation and preferences have a subjective

13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research

character, since the weighting is proportional to the degree
of importance assigned to them.
The consistency of the matrix was calculated using
the consistency ratio (CR), which measures the random-
ness of the comparison values between criteria. CR val-
ues greater than 0.1 indicate that the comparison val-
ues assigned in the construction of the matrix are not
reliable. In this case, it is recommended to reorder the
matrix by changing the comparison values. The consist-
ency ratio (CR) was calculated by finding the maximum
eigenvalue of each criterion in the comparison matrix.
The eigenvalue was determined by the sum of each row
divided by its normalized weight. The calculated values
were summed and the sum obtained was divided by the
number of criteria.
CI
CR =
RCI
Here, CI is the consistency index and the random con-
sistency index (RCI) is given by Saaty scale (Saaty 1980).
Appropriate weighted factors were assigned for each cat-
egory of these parameters. The weighting factors of geo-
morphological layer were based on water storage capacity
and infiltration ratio. Other thematic layers were also clas-
sified according to the hydrological characteristics of each

Fig. 4  Flowchart for appropriate

site selection for dam construc- Data
tion using remote sensing and
GIS techniques

TopoSheets Maps Satellite Images

Geology Land use/ Land

Settlements cover

Geomorphology Slope

Drainages Lineaments
Average Rainfall

Drainage Lineament
Density Density

Reclassifications

Morphometric
Analysis

AHP & GIS (Raster

Weighted Overlay)

Suitable surface water

storage check dam
locations

13

layer. Suitable dam sites for surface water storage were
identified from all other classified layers (Fig. 4).
Results and discussion
Interpretation of remote sensing and GIS data sets
Geomorphic features
The geomorphologic features interpreted from the image
of LANDSAT are the covered zone of dissected plateau,
pediments, the plateaus of promontory, structural hill, and
valley. The pediments and plateaus of the foothills show
a large erosional surface on a gentle slope and a plain of
lower relief, with abrupt minor changes in front of the
mountain range of this pediment (Fig. 5a). Cover of struc-
tural hills throughout the study area was delineated using
land satellite imagery with valley fills reflecting vegeta-
tion in the valley areas. Pediment and foothill plateaus and
valley fill are important features of the permeability zone
(Arulbalaji et al. 2019). These features are located in the
central and northern parts of the area.
Slope parameter
Slope is an essential parameter for controlling the sur-
face water flow and the underground infiltration of water
(Venkatramanan et al. 2013). The inclination of slope was
measured in degrees. Topographic map was prepared and
overlaid on 2-cm model grid, and the average slopes were
measured using SRTM satellite data. The lower values of
the slope indicate the flat terrain and the higher values of
slope correspond to the steep slope. The slope was esti-
mated by using DEM (digital elevation model) and topo-
graphic map with four categories: very steep slope, steep
slope, moderate slope, and gentle slope (Fig. 5b). Dams
are usually located in upland areas with steep slopes,
because they have to gather a lot of surface water in a short
time. The site of the dam should be flat in the highlands
and have a large surface area.
Lineament and lineament density
Water storage and movement is affected by the lineaments
and fractures of the bedrock under the dam site. In the
case of a dam site with a high density of lineaments, the
stored water can easily escape into the bedrock, and the
volume is reduced in a short time. Moreover, dam stabil-
ity can be threatened by the fractures of basement. Thus,
a low lineament density area is favorable for dam site
13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
(Hauer and Habersack 2009). Thus, it is more critical to
identify lineaments from the satellite data. Lineaments
are identified with the help of surface landscapes along
with drainage pattern, vegetation patterns, and topography.
The study area has intersections of major and minor line-
aments (Fig. 5c). The length varies from meters to several
kilometers.
Density of drainage
Drainage density is calculated for the entire length of the
stream in a watershed. Drainage density is directly propor-
tional to surface runoff. Therefore, the region with higher
drainage density has higher chance of recharge potential for
a retention dam (Bhagwat et al. 2011). The study area was
classified into very high, high, moderate, and low drainage
density (Fig. 5d).
Land cover/land use pattern
A fivefold classification was used for the study, and the
land use was categorized as agricultural land, dry land,
forest land, hilly land, and wetland (see Fig. 5e). The dif-
ferent land cover and land use classes were classified with
their unique characteristics for water recharge (Abraham
and Mohan 2015). Agricultural land and wetlands have a
higher priority than the other categories of land use. Wet-
land is primarily for soil enrichment, followed by agri-
cultural cropland, which encourages infiltration of water
from the surface to the water table via the vadose zone.
This region is predominantly covered by agricultural land
and forests, which are located in the central and SE part
of the area.
Watershed delineation
A watershed is an area of land that feeds all the water that
drains into a body of water. It joins with other watersheds
to form a network of rivers that gradually flow into broader
bodies of water (Vittala et al. 2004). A watershed is a unit of
hydrologic parameters that flow from a surface water body
into a specific drainage, channel, river, or stream. Twelve
additional watersheds are classified based on the total water-
shed of the region (Table 2).
Drainage network delineation
The study area consists of 12 watersheds delineated using
SRTM terrain data (Fig. 5f). In all the sub-watersheds, a new
drainage forms the first and then becomes a stream chan-
nel. The drainage pattern is dendritic with a tree-like and
fern-like structure. They consist of subdivisions connected
mainly at acute angles.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Fig. 5  Spatial interpolation
maps a geomorphology, b
slope, c lineament density, d
drainage density, e land use/land
cover, f drainage, g mean bifur-
cation ratio, h stream frequency,
i form factor, j elongation ratio,
k circularity ratio

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Fig. 5  (continued)

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Fig. 5  (continued)

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Fig. 5  (continued)

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Table 2  Morphometric analysis results of 12 sub-watersheds

SWSD no Basin area ­(km2) Stream order Stream length in km (Lu) Perimeter (P) (km) Basin
length
I II III IV I II III IV (km)

1 455.9 23 5 16 7 55.54 12.9 49.68 24.81 151.00 11.66

2 263.7 15 7 5 0 47.23 24.31 15.27 0.00 65.70 13.58
3 355.6 17 7 3 0 74.07 24.87 4.86 0.00 74.52 14.00
4 154.2 11 5 0 0 25.11 10.63 0 0.00 50.42 8.50
5 206.4 10 5 4 0 48.76 19.9 17.43 0.00 61.22 8.60
6 166 13 5 5 0 39.38 21.86 15.97 0.00 68.73 6.80
7 76.04 4 1 5 0 9.73 4.08 17.69 0.00 40.68 6.16
8 213 15 6 10 0 29.36 17.1 35.06 0.00 86.94 7.00
9 219 12 7 3 1 40.02 33.22 11.8 7.50 58.77 12.40
10 89.15 4 1 2 3 10.02 2.8 7.77 9.92 48.28 8.16
11 76.31 7 0 2 10 13.76 0 7.92 16.18 48.69 5.60
12 43.11 2 1 0 2 11.72 1.63 0 11.34 32.81 3.83

Drainage basin system
The area of the basin (A) and the perimeter (P) are the
quantitative morphological constraints. The pelvis should
contribute to a horizontal plane. The perimeter (P) of the
basin is the limit that can be read from topographic maps.
The basin area is critical to the storm and directly affects the
peak and mean hydrographic elevations. Table 2 shows the
calculated values for the area (A) and perimeter (P) for each
sub-basin and the watershed.
Morphometric analysis
deal with the total projected area contributing to overland
flow into the channel section in different flow orders. It
includes drainage density, drainage texture, flow frequency,
form factor, circularity ratio, and elongation ratio (Bogale
2021).
Stream order  The determination of stream orders is the first
step in the analysis of the watershed and the hierarchical
classification of the stream. The stream classification was
done according to the method proposed by Strahler (1964).
The stream length, stream numbers, and area for 12 sub-
basins are given in Tables 1 and 2.

Morphometry is the mathematical analysis and measurement
of the configuration, shape, and dimensions of the Earth’s
surface (Vittala et al. 2004). This analysis was carried out
by measuring the relief aspects and aerial slope of the basin
(Nag and Chakraborty 2003). The morphometric analysis
(Table 1) of the parameters such as order of stream, length of
stream, bifurcation ratio, stream drainage density, frequency,
elongation ratio, circularity ratio, relief ratio, and form factor
are as follows:
Linear and aerial aspects  Water is transported by the drain-
age system and sediment from a reservoir in a single outlet
indicating the highest order of water availability in the res-
ervoir. It denotes the highest order of discharge available in
the reservoir (Dar et al. 2010). The order of the basin varies
according to the size of the rivers. Stream sequencing is the
first phase of watershed analysis. Linear aspects of stream
length and mean length, stream order, bifurcation ratio, and
stream length ratio are computed (Table 2). Aerial aspects
Stream length (Ls)  GIS was involved in determining the
number of streams of different drainage orders in a sub-
watershed, calculated on the basis of length from the mouth
of the river (Table 2). Stream length was calculated based on
the law proposed by Horton (1945) for all 12 sub-watersheds
(Table 1). The total length of stream segments is generally
higher in the first stream orders and decreases with increas-
ing stream order.
Mean stream length (Lsm)  According to Strahler (1964),
the mean stream length is a specific feature of the drainage
network and its surfaces. The Lsm is calculated by allocat-
ing the total and number of stream length of the “u” order
segment (Table 1). Table 3 shows that Lsm ranges from 1.62
to 5.86 and the Lsm of any given order is greater than the
lower order and less than its next higher order in all sub-
watersheds. The variation in slope and topography can be
attributed to the difference in the calculated values of the
area.

13

Stream length ratio (RL)  The stream length ratio can be dis-
tinct as the mean ratio length from one order to the next
lower stream segment order (Table 3). The RL between
streams of different order shows that there is a variation in
RL in each sub-watershed (Table 3). The possible change
could be in surface topography and slope. Sub-basins 1, 7,
and 10 exhibit an increasing stream length from lower to
higher order due to the local geomorphic units (Das et al.
1997). However, the exceptional basin is a change from one
order to another indicating their time of late geomorphic
development (Singh and Singh 1997).
Bifurcation ratio (Rb)  The term bifurcation ratio (Rb) was
used to indicate the ratio of the number of streams of any
given order to the next higher order of stream numbers. The
bifurcation ratio ranges from 3.0 to 5.0 for basins, where
there is no distortion of drainage pattern by geological struc-
ture. The mean bifurcation ratios calculated are depicted in
Table 3. The mean bifurcation ratio (Rbm) is high in basins
1 and 9 with 2.40 and 2.35, respectively (Fig. 5g). Most of
the region is covered by moderate ratio and it occurred at
the central part.
Drainage density (Dd)  It represents an index of the relative
proportion of overland and canal flows. The apparent non-
linearity of the water response varies with discharge density
(D) and surface distribution. It has a strong influence on
sediment yield and runoff. High drainage density is gener-
ally associated with impermeable rocks (Gardiner 1995).
There is an inverse relationship between drainage density
and the hydraulic conductivity of the underlying soil. The
higher density was found in sub-catchments 6, 11, and 12
(Table 2). Low and moderate drainage values are found in
sub-catchments 1, 2, 3, and 4 and 5, 7, 8, and 9, respectively,
which have dense vegetation cover, low elevation, and more
permeable subsoil (Arumaikkani et al. 2017).
Stream frequency (Fs)  Stream frequency (Fig. 5h) is devel-
oped in an area of 1 ­km2 of 3 different streams associated
with more substantial surface runoff and steeper soil (Vit-
tala et al. 2004). Most of area represents the low stream
frequency.
Form factor (Rf)  The ratio of the basin area (A) to the square
of the basin length (Lb) is defined as form factor. The Rf
varies from 0 to unity (for an extremely elongated form),
i.e., 1 (perfectly circular). The values of form factor (Rf)
for the catchment have a high value of 4 and 10 (Fig. 5i and
Table 3). Low and moderate values are observed in sub-
basins 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 and 7 and 12, respectively.
Predominantly low values of form factor are observed in all
parts of the region.
13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Elongation ratio (Re)  Elongation ratio is essential index in
the form analysis that helps to determine the hydrological
character of a drainage system. Values close to 1.0 are typi-
cal of shallow relief regions (Strahler 1964). The elongation
ratio of sub-basin in the study region is estimated as 1.68,
showing that the basin is longer. Sub-basins 7, 8, and 9 have
a relatively high Re values. Sub-basins 3, 5, 10, and 11 were
observed to have low values. Moderate values were observed
in sub-basins 1, 2, 4, 6, and 12 (Table 3 and Fig. 5j). High
elongation ratios indicate that the basin shape is controlled
by denudation (Manu and Anirudhan 2008). It also reflects
the nature of relief and slopes of the basin (Singh and Singh
1997).
Circularity ratio (Rc)  This ratio is presented as the ratio of the
basin area (A) to the circular area with the same perimeter
as the basin area (Strahler 1964; Reinfeldsa et al. 2004). RC
values show that the shapes of the basin are circular. The
circularity ratio (Rc) of the study area is estimated to be
high in sub-basins 2, 3, and 9, which shows that the basins
are circular. The ratio in watersheds 10, 12, and 1 and 4, 5,
6, and 7 reflects low to moderate value of Rc (Fig. 5k). A
low value of Rc is controlled by the elongation of the shape.
Most parts of Rc have high values.
Relief of basin  The relief of the basin (M) is an indicator
of the energy potential of a certain quantity. The basin has
highest elevation of 3700 m above mean sea level and the
lowest 2680 m, which reflects the gradient of the basin. The
variation in elevation the potential of sediment transport
and rate of surface water flow (Ajay Kumar et al. 2020)
(Table 3).
Relief ratio  Relief ratio was obtained by dividing the basin
relief with the maximum length of the basin (Lb). Higher
values were observed to show steep slopes and high relief.
The lower value indicates the occurrence of rocks in the
basement in the form of small crests and hills. The higher
sub-basin Rh value is 0.58, and the low is 0.21 (Table 3).
The erosion intensity was measured by a range of (Rh)
values.
Identification for dam site construction and water
resources management
Thematic maps (Fig. 5) of various parameters were created
to determine the potential water storage regions for dam con-
struction site. ArcGIS software uses AHP-weighted overlay
analysis. Thematic layers (Table 4 and Fig. 5) such as (a)
geomorphology, (b) slope of DEM, (c) lineament density,
(d) drainage density, (e) land use/land cover, (f) drainage, (g)
mean bifurcation ratio, (h) stream frequency, (i) shape factor,
(j) elongation ratio, and (k) circulatory ratio were created
 Table 3  The individual ranking of all sub-basins
SWSD Mean stream length in km (Lsm) Stream length ratio (RL) Total Relief ratio (Rh) Elon- Texture
no relief gation ratio
I II III IV II/I III /II IV/III III/IV (M) ratio (Rt)
(Re)

1 2.41 2.58 3.11 3.54 0.23 3.85 0.50 2.00 2820 0.24 1.08 0.34
2 3.15 3.47 3.05 0.00 0.51 0.63 0.00 0.00 2900 0.21 0.92 0.41
Environmental Science and Pollution Research

3 4.36 3.55 1.62 0.00 0.34 0.20 0.00 0.00 3440 0.21 0.31 0.36
4 2.28 2.13 0.00 0.00 0.42 0.00 0.00 0.00 3700 0.40 0.79 0.32
5 4.88 3.98 4.36 0.00 0.41 0.88 0.00 0.00 3660 0.43 0.54 0.31
6 3.03 4.37 3.19 0.00 0.56 0.73 0.00 0.00 3560 0.54 1.15 0.33
7 2.43 4.08 3.54 0.00 0.42 4.34 0.00 0.00 2950 0.58 1.35 0.25
8 1.96 2.85 3.51 0.00 0.58 2.05 0.00 0.00 3120 0.42 1.68 0.36
9 3.34 4.75 3.93 7.50 0.83 0.36 0.64 1.57 3660 0.25 1.68 0.39
10 2.51 2.80 3.89 3.31 0.28 2.78 1.28 0.78 2890 0.45 0.35 0.14
11 1.97 0.00 3.96 1.62 0.00 0.00 2.04 0.49 2740 0.52 0.19 0.39
12 5.86 1.63 0.00 5.67 0.14 0.00 0.00 0.00 2680 0.72 1.17 0.09
SWSD no Bifurcation ratio (Rb) Mean bifurcation ratio Drainage density (D) (km/ Stream fre- Form factor (Rf) Circularity ratio (Rc)
I/II II/III III/IV (Rbm) km2) quency (Fs)
1 4.60 0.31 2.29 2.40 0.31 0.11 0.02 0.25
2 2.14 1.40 0.00 1.18 0.33 0.10 0.03 0.77
3 2.43 2.33 0.00 1.59 0.29 0.08 0.03 0.80
4 2.20 0.00 0.00 0.73 0.23 0.10 0.12 0.76
5 2.00 1.25 0.00 1.08 0.42 0.09 0.03 0.69
6 2.60 1.00 0.00 1.20 0.47 0.14 0.03 0.44
7 4.00 0.20 0.00 1.40 0.41 0.13 0.08 0.58
8 2.50 0.60 0.00 1.03 0.38 0.15 0.03 0.35
9 1.71 2.33 3.00 2.35 0.42 0.11 0.03 0.80
10 4.00 0.50 0.67 1.72 0.34 0.11 0.10 0.48
11 0.00 0.00 0.20 0.07 0.50 0.25 0.05 0.40
12 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.67 0.57 0.12 0.07 0.50

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Table 4  Parameters evaluation Parameters Classes Rank Weightages

on the basis of dam site and
class weights Geology Eluvial 3
Sandstone 3
Gorgo-ignimbrite 0
Kesem basalt 10 2
Tarmabre-Megezeze basalt 2
Geomorphology units Dissected plateau 1
Pediment 3
Piedmont plateaus 3
Structural hill 0
Structural valley 20 2
Valley fill 3
Slope Gentle slope 3
Moderate slope 2
Steep slope 35 1
Very steep slope 0
Lineament density Low 0
Moderate 1
High 30 2
Very high 3
Drainage density Low 3
Moderate 2
High 5 1
Very high 0
Land cover/land use Agricultural lands 25 3
Dry lands 1
Forest lands 2
Hill shade 0
Wetland 3
Aerial aspects (drainage density, stream frequency, Low 20 3
form factor, elongation ratio, and circularity ratio) Moderate 2
High 1

based on the weighting rank for selecting locations of check
dams. Priority was given to the areas with gentle slope, low
runoff density and relief component factors, high lineament
density, low slope, and higher infiltration rate (Patel et al.
2012). The different zones were ranked as very high (3.28%),
high (8.88%), moderate (29.61%), low (41.63%), and poor
(16.6%) probability of dam construction in the weighted
overlay map (Fig. 6). The pedi-plain present in sub-catch-
ments 6, 7, and 9 can serve as recharge basin for the under-
lying sandstones and basalt formations, resulting in a good
location for the construction of check dam. This was also
confirmed by the low runoff density in other parts of the area
due to the presence of denudation mounds and ignimbrite
rock formation. After the extensive field investigations in the
watershed, the final possible locations for the construction
of a dam were determined as zones 6, 7, and 9 of the sub-
basins (Fig. 6). Thus, the results of this study proved that
GIS-AHP was a powerful tool for dam site evaluation. To
improve the groundwater level in the low potential zones of
the groundwater potential map, artificial recharge is required
in the study area. Artificial recharge is the process of natural
infiltration of surface water into subsurface aquifers through
a variety of methods, including artificial recharge structures
such as retention dams, percolation ponds, and infiltration
wells. Due to the geology, topography, drainage, lineament,
and soil characteristics of this region, major check dams are
the appropriate artificial recharge structures.
Conclusion
Water resource availability was successfully estimated
by integrating and analyzing the physical characteristics
of the study area. This information, processed with the

13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Fig. 6  Final spatial interpolation overlay maps for the selection of suitable site location for dam construction
geographic information system, allowed a hierarchical
multi-criteria analysis that provides a preliminary diag-
nosis that can help to make decisions on the management
of water resources. Based on the weighted ranking, dif-
ferent types of priority zones were identified: very high
(3.28%), high (8.88%), moderate (29.61%), low (41.63%),
and poor (16.6%). The results show that the precision-
based assessment of the suitability for dam construction in
sub-basins 6, 7, and 9 is more suitable for the construction
of dams for irrigation, drinking water supply, and domes-
tic purposes, especially to improve water security during
flood and drought periods. Given the massive investment
in the watershed development program, it is very impor-
tant to design commitments based on science to improve
sustainable management of valuable water resources. This
current work will help the leaders to address the prob-
lematic areas with this innovative technological solution.
This advanced computational technique based on GIS can
be used anywhere in the world as it is cost effective and
provides relatively accurate results for site selection in the
construction of detention basins. In site selection for water
reservoirs and artificial recharge structures, this method-
ology is suitable and can be adapted to different sites as
required.
Author contribution  BM: Conceptualization—original draft, program
running. TMA: Data curation and editing. GG: Data curation and edit-
ing. SYC: Writing—review and editing, supervision. VS: Conceptu-
alization, review and editing, supervision. SS: Conceptualization and
data curation, HEE: Data validation and editing. SK: Data validation,
editing and software.
Funding This research was supported by the Basic Science
Research Program through the National Research Foundation
of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Korea
(2019R1D1A3A03103683).
13
 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

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Authors and Affiliations

Bagyaraj Murugesan1   · Tenaw Mengistie Alemayehu1 · Gnanachandrasamy Gopalakrishnan2,3   ·

Sang Yong Chung4   · Venkatramanan Senapathi5   · Selvam Sekar6   · Hussam Eldin Elzain4 ·
Sivakumar Karthikeyan7 
4
Venkatramanan Senapathi Department of Environmental Earth Sciences, Pukyong
venkatramanansenapathi@gmail.com National University, Busan, South Korea
5
1 Department of Disaster Management, Alagappa University,
Department of Geology, College of Natural
Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India
and Computational Sciences/Debre, Berhan University,
6
Debre Berhan, Ethiopia Department of Geology, V.O. Chidambaram College,
2 Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India
School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University,
7
Guangzhou 510275, China Department of Geology, Alagappa University, Karaikudi,
3 Tamil Nadu, India
Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Environment Change
and Resources Utilization of Ministry of Education, Nanning
Normal University, Nanning 530001, China

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