A Comprehensive Approach to Groundwater Quality Prediction and Management in the State of Telangana, India, Using Stacking Ensemble Approach

Groundwater, a vital resource for various purposes, faces increasing threats to its quality due to factors like overuse, pollution and climate change. In the semi-arid climate of the state of Telangana, India, exacerbated by intensive agricultural practices, groundwater quality is a significant concern. This study presents a machine learning-based approach for predicting and managing groundwater quality in Telangana, utilizing a stacking ensemble method. Our proposed approach combines decision trees (DT) with meta-models such as logistic regression, K-nearest neighbors (K-NN), Bayesian ridge regression (BRR) and random forest (RF). Trained on a comprehensive dataset from the Telangana Open Data portal (2018-2021), the stacking ensemble demonstrates superior performance, achieving an accuracy of 96.07%, surpassing the best individual model (DT) at 92.68%. It not only enhances predictive capabilities but also provides insights into the spatial distribution of groundwater quality, identifying areas vulnerable to contamination. These findings offer valuable information for policymakers, environmental scientists and water resource managers, guiding informed decision-making for sustainable water resource management in Telangana. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on environmental conservation and the imperative for effective groundwater management.