• Maps are evidence-based tools to represent the real ground situation. • Geospatial techniques are efficient and cost-effective in water delineation. • Maps aid in water management for improved water policies. • Merging geospatial techniques and codesigned ideas enhances water management. Sustainable Development Goal 6 emphasizes the availability of water resources and their effective management. Maps can provide evidence to support decision-making in water sustainability as they provide spatial information to allow planning, analysis, advocacy, implementation, and monitoring. The objective of this study is to understand the use of recent advances in technology, such as Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, for water resources management, considering their potential to provide sustainable water management, focusing on India. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocols for literature search and the literature quality assessment technique adapted from the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) were employed for the study. Mapped parameters affecting water availability and quality include groundwater potential zones, groundwater recharge zones, water quality, land use and land cover, groundwater level, and groundwater vulnerability. The main employed mapping techniques include Landsat employed in 25 studies, Survey of India toposheets and Inverse Distance Weighting in 14 studies each, Global Positioning System and Analytical Hierarchy Process in 10 studies each, Geological Survey of India maps in 12 studies, and National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning in 5 studies. Based on the reviewed literature, the study provides techniques and datasets employed in water mapping. The study adapted a seasonal bottlenecking water use strategy and a water resources management framework to ensure sustainable water management. The adapted frameworks suggested codesigning of interventions with communities, thus encouraging community-based water management to enhance water sustainability.
Manezhu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.