Groundwater plays a vital role in sustaining rural water supply systems in Ethiopia, yet its availability and spatial distribution remain poorly understood in many watersheds. The Gindeberet Watershed faces increasing pressure from population growth, expanding agricultural activities, and climate variability, leading to recurrent water shortages and unreliable surface water sources. This study was conducted to identify groundwater potential zones using an integrated geospatial and multi criteria analysis approach to support evidence based water resource planning in the study area. Eight geographic parameters were prepared using Geographic information system (GIS) and Remote sensing datasets. The relative influence of each factor was established using the Analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and the weighted overlay technique was applied to generate the Groundwater potential zonation mapping (GWPZs). The result revealed four ground water potential classes: Highly suitable (1.9%), suitable (39%), moderately suitable (58.3%), and unsuitable (0.8%). Areas with high and very high potential were primarily located in fractured rock zones and gentle slope regions, where high lineament density and favorable geological formations enhance infiltration. Using borehole data and the Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve method analysis, the groundwater potential map achieved 80.164% correlation, demonstrating the reliability of GIS and remote sensing for identifying GWPZs. The study conclude that the integrated geospatial and AHP based approach provides a robust and cost effective framework for groundwater potential assessment in data scarce regions. It is recommended that future well drilling and rural water supply development prioritize the high potential zones identified. Incorporating additional hydrogeological and geophysical investigations would further improve groundwater resource management.
Dararo et al. (Sat,) studied this question.