Spatial Expert Support System in Selecting Suitable Sites for Water Harvesting Structures — A Case Study of Song Watershed, Uttaranchal, India

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to make a user friendly Spatial Expert Support System (SESS) for identifying suitable sites for water harvesting structures such as check dams, farm ponds, and groundwater recharge tanks. The developed system has been used to identify potential sites for water harvesting in the Song watershed, India. Basic input layers required for this study such as a digital elevation model, landuse, soils, drainage, geology, and buffer map for utility points were generated in a geographic information system (GIS). Technical guidelines suggested by the Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD), and the Indian National Committee on Hydrology (INCOH), have been used as decision rules in the knowledge base shell of the developed SESS. Monthly water balance has been estimated using remote sensing and GIS techniques to augment the proposed water harvesting structures. The knowledge base can suitably be modified as and when required on the basis of other expert knowledge if found more judicious in this present context.