Potential of Water Hyacinth Infestation on Dam Jaikwadi, Maharashtra A Prediction Using a GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Technique

Water hyacinth is a well-known invasive weed in dams across the world and harms the aquatic environment.Since 2011, the weed has invaded Dam Jaikwadi substantially posing a challenge to the ecosystem services of the dam.The major factors which affect the growth of the weed are phosphorus, nitrogen, temperature, pH, salinity, and dam depth.Understanding and investigating the hotspot areas is vital to predict the areas for proper planning of interventions.The main objective of this study is therefore to predict the hotspot areas of the water hyacinth over the surface of the dam using the geographical information system (GIS)-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) technique.The main parameters used in the multi-criteria analysis were total phosphorus (>0.08 mg L-1), total nitrogen (>1.1 mg L-1), temperature (<26.2 °C), pH (<8.6), salinity (<0.011%), and depth (<6 m).Fuzzy overlay spatial analysis was used to overlay the different parameters to obtain the final prediction map of water hyacinth infestation areas.The results indicated that 24,969 ha (8.1%), 21,568.7 ha (7.1%), and 24,036 ha (7.9%) of the dam are susceptible to invasion by the water hyacinth in August, December, and March, respectively.At the maximum historical dam level, 30,728.4ha will be the potential susceptible area for water hyacinth growth and expansion at the end of the rainy season in August.The north and northeastern parts of the dam are highly susceptible for invasion.