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Prioritization of sub-watersheds of the Kanakapura Watershed in the Arkavathi River Basin, Karnataka, India- using Remote sensing and GIS

Prioritization of sub-watersheds of the Kanakapura Watershed in the Arkavathi River Basin,... GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 2021, VOL. 5, NO. 2, 149–160 INWASCON https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2020.1846841 RESEARCH ARTICLE Prioritization of sub-watersheds of the Kanakapura Watershed in the Arkavathi River Basin, Karnataka, India- using Remote sensing and GIS a b a c Hema hc , Govindaiah S , Lakshmi Srikanth and HJ Surendra a b Department of Civil Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India; Department of Civil Engineering, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru, India; Department of Civil Engineering, Atria Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 30 March 2020 Prioritization of sub-watersheds is a crucial aspect of watershed management as it may not be Accepted 4 October 2020 possible to execute development programs at a time for entire watersheds in a basin owing to the paucity of financial resources. The present study attempts to prioritize sub-watersheds in KEYWORDS the Kanakapura watershed, in Ramanagara district, Karnataka, based on the multi-criteria Sub-watershed prioritization; ranking method. This process involves extraction and determination of various parameters remote sensing; GIS; such as rainfall, lithology, drainage density, slope, lineament, hydro geomorphology, land-use, thematic map; and land-cover, using information from rain gauges, topographical sheets, and satellite ima- hydrogeomorphic units; weighted index overlay gery in Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. Kanakapura watershed is subdivided analysis into nine sub-watersheds, namely, Bannimukudlu, Bennagodu, Doddaalahalli, Gadasahalli, Horalagallu, Kodihalli, Madarahalli, Maralebbekupe, and Mudagod. Priorities indexing of each of the parameters was done, based on their impact significance, and overlay analysis was performed to identify critical sub-watersheds. Some of the strategies proposed for effective conservation and management of water resources are the construction of a check dam, implementation of water harvesting methods, identification of artificial recharge sites. The results of the study show that priority needs to be given to the Bannimukudlu and Kodihalli sub-watersheds followed by remaining sub-watersheds to regulate surface water flow thereby improving water table level. I. Introduction Watershed prioritization may be described as the process of identifying environmentally stressed sub-watersheds Management of water resources continues to be a chal- or pockets, for taking steps for soil conservation on a lenge in developing countries like India. Water resource priority basis. Several scientific criteria based on soil loss, development calls for addressing critical issues of storage, sediment yield, topographic, or morphological factors conservation, and subsequently utilization of surface and have been applied individually in the past to identify subsurface water.Towards evolving a comprehensive environmentally stressed sub-watersheds/areas (Pandal management plan for suitable conservation and utiliza- et al., 2005; Shrimali et al., 2001). tion of available water resources in a country, space In order to achieve sustainable development of technology plays a crucial role. Combining conventional watershed, several attempts have been made to rank groundwater measurement techniques and remote sen- them based on their priority. Morphometric parameters sing (RS) methods set the stage for attaining optimum are the key elements in determining the quantitative planning and execution of water resource projects. estimation of watershed characteristics (Bhattacharya Conventional data can be supplemented by the synoptic et al., 2019; Biswas et al., 1999; Strahler, 1964). and repetitive coverage of satellites to monitor the pro- Morphometric analysis requires measurement of three gress and impact of the aforementioned projects. RS, in important aspects – linear, aerial, and slope of drainage combination with Geographical Information System basin (Nautiyal, 1994). Earlier work was carried out in the (GIS) produces terrain maps, containing detailed infor- Kanakapura watershed on morphometric analysis mation of the variables under study. (Hema and Govindaiah 2012) and land-use land-cover Effective and efficient planning and maintenance of mapping (Hema et al., 2012). Based on the distribution of natural resources are the primary concern for sustainable the stream network Kankapura watershed is divided into development. The basic units for the management of land nine sub-watersheds. Land use and land cover (LULC) and water resources include drainage basins, catchments, change is another important integrating parameter for and sub-catchments (Moore et al., 1991). Watersheds are watershed prioritization under the GIS platform (Altaf natural hydrologic bodies that extend over a finite area of et al., 2014; Malik & Bhat, 2014; Sujatha et al., 2014). Slope land from which rainwater flows to a defined gully, river, and drainage density give valuable information on the or stream at any specific point (Kumar & Kumar, 2011). structural aspects of drainage basin, namely, linear, aerial, CONTACT Hema HC hemagis4@gmail.com Department of Civil Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru 560037, India © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the International Water, Air & Soil Conservation Society(INWASCON). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 150 H. H.C ET AL. and relief, which are important factors in prioritization as II. Study area well as sustainable planning and management of water- The Kanakapura watershed forms a part of the Arkavathi sheds. (Clarke, 1966; Javed et al., 2011; Malik et al., 2011). river basin which is one of the principal tributaries of the The drainage density maps provide an idea about the river Cauvery in Karnataka. The watershed is bounded permeability of rocks and also indicate the yield of the between 12°16ʹN and 12°35ʹN latitudes, 77°15ʹE and 77° basin. Remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information 38ʹ E longitudes, covering an area of about 81550 ha. System (GIS) play a significant role in the characteriza- (Figure 1). The entire watershed is divided into nine tion and prioritization of watersheds of the past two sub-watersheds, namely, Bannimukudlu, Bennagodu, decades. DoddaAlahalli, Gadasahalli, Horalagallu, Kodihalli, In this research, the Kanakapura basin has been con- Madarahalli, Maralebbekupe, and Mudagod, area of sidered as a study area. Groundwater in the basin is each ranges from 3000 to 25100 ha (NRSA, 1995). It has mostly in the fractured aquifer as the weathered aquifer an average elevation of 638 m. The drainage pattern of the has been exploited over the years. The hydrology of the study area is dendritic to sub-dendritic in nature. The basin is rapidly changing due to urban agglomeration. climatic characteristic is generally salubrious, tempera- This has also affected the quality of groundwater in the ture ranges from 28.4°C to 35.8°C, the lowest temperature basin. Therefore, there is a need to protect the ground- being recorded during the month of January and the water through proper land-use practices, prevent its pol- driest season is April–May. The average annual rainfall lution by establishing point sources, proper waste is 741 mm. Lithologic characteristics of this terrain are disposal, and large-scale rainwater harvesting. Granite and Peninsular Gneisses, and Charnockite is The objective of this research is to utilize an integrated present in some places. In general, soil characteristics in approach to prioritize the sub-watersheds for conserva- this region are shallow to deep, drained to well-drained, tion and management of water resources based on the yellowish to reddish-brown with moderate to high infil - data on geological conditions, rainfall, morphometric tration potential. Land-use patterns are predominantly parameters, hydrogeomorphic units, land-use, and agriculture and forest. land-cover mapping by applying weighted factor analysis. This work aims to provide the sub-watershed wise III. Data sources status by integrating data sets to enhance the potenti- ality of the sub-watersheds. The study area, Kanakapura watershed is delineated So far, no research attempt has been made in this using Survey of India (SOI) topographic sheets bearing region to analyze and prioritize the parameters that influ - survey numbers 57 H/6, 57 H/7, 57 H/10, and 57 H/11 in ence the deterioration of watersheds based on various a 1:50000 scale. Various thematic maps-rainfall, drainage, criteria. The current study will aid policymakers to plan geology, slope, hydro-geomorphology, lineaments, land- maintenance interventions and resource allocation. use, and land-cover (LULC) characteristics were pre- Figure 1. Location map – Kanakapura watershed. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 151 pared from topographic sheets, satellite images, and other across the study area’s south-east to south-west regions. reference maps, obtained from Karnataka State Remote- Approximately 75% of the study region with an average Sensing Center. Rainfall data from different rain gauge annual rainfall of less than 700 mm, covering the sub- stations of the study area were collected from the statis- watersheds of Bennogodu, Bannimukudlu, Kodihalli, tical department, Government of Karnataka. Maralebbekupe, and Madarahalli was identified as very Lithological information was extracted from the low or low infiltration potential zones, ranked 1 or 2. Geological Survey of India (GSI) map. Drainage density and hydro-geomorphic units were derived from LISS III Lithology + PAN (Figure 3) merged dataset and topographic sheet. The drainage map of the study area was generated from The present study area is a part of hard rock terrain vectorization of the topographic sheet as well as satellite consisting of four rock types, namely Charnokite, imagery, representing the network of streams and assign- Closepet Granite, Peninsular gneisses, and Quartzite. ing stream orders (up to sixth order). LULC information These litho-units were considered for understanding was extracted from Landsat TM (Figure 4). The hydro- groundwater distribution and occurrence. Charnokites geomorphological map, generated for the Kanakapura are predominantly exposed in the study area’s southern watershed is based on a combination of visual interpreta- region, showed high potential for infiltration, and it was tion of satellite image, topographic map, and on-site verified with ground truth verification near the Sangam verification. LULC classification is based on the classifica - region (Figure 2). The study area’s litho-units were eval- tion scheme developed by the National Remote-Sensing uated and correct weights were allocated based on their Agency (NRSA, 1995). The LULC maps were prepared hydrogeological properties (Table 1). Figure 7 shows the and classified into built-up land, agricultural land, fallow distribution of Peninsular gneisses and Quartzites having land, plantation, forest, wasteland, and waterbodies, a low capacity for penetration in the study area. The based on visual image interpretation from Landsat TM exposures of granite in the low-lying areas are weathered (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/), path 144, and row 51. and decomposed, and in essence coarse-grained. Around This is done in combination with IRS-1D LISS III FCC of 23% of the study area is having a low infiltration zone band 2,3,4 and SOI topographic sheets, Cartosat-1 digital based on lithology. Due to lithological characteristics with platform. Slope and lineament density were derived from very low penetration qualities, sub-watersheds Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Bennagodu, Bannimukudlu, and Madarahalli are under It is evident from (Figure 9) that NE, NW, and SW high priority range. parts of the area showed maximum relief (upto 1001 m above MSL), while the rest of the area is undulating Drainage network density and plain in the central part. Minimum relief is observed in the southern part, from 276 m above MSL. The drainage pattern of the study area is dendritic to sub-dendritic in nature. Drainage density is defined as the ratio of the total length of the stream to the area of IV. Prioritization methodology the drainage basin (Edet et al., 1998; Horton, 1932), as It is essential to properly plan the developmental activities shown in Equation (1) below: on a priority basis keeping in mind the huge investment i¼n involved, in order to achieve beneficial results. This i¼1 resource-based, integrated approach is realistic and D ¼ (1) helps in addressing precarious areas to arrive at an appro- th priate solution. Each parameter was divided into different where D is drainage density; S is the length of i stream d i categories and weightage was assigned based on their in km; A is the area under consideration in sq. km. relative importance. The weightage system followed in A drainage density map provides an understanding of this research is completely based on local terrain and may rock permeability and also indicates basin yield. High vary from place to place. The weightage and ranks drainage density is counterproductive to the existence assigned for various categories of parameters is shown of groundwater, moderate drainage density has modest in Table 1 and the conceptual framework adopted for the groundwater capacity and low/no drainage density is identification of the priority zone is depicted in Figure 6. considered as a low groundwater potential zone (Todd & Mays, 2005). The drainage density map is classified into three categories, viz. low (<2 km/sq.km), medium (2 Rainfall to 3 km/sq.km), and high (>3 km/sq. km), as shown in Rainfall plays a significant role in the hydrologic process Figure 8. The drainage density in the study area varies and is the primary source for groundwater infiltration. between 1.71 and 3.04 km/sq.km indicating very coarse Average annual rainfall precipitation has been considered to coarse drainage texture. In the present study, it is to recognize the possible capacity for infiltration. The understood that low drainage density indicates a region annual rainfall map showed a declining pattern of rainfall of highly permeable subsoil and dense vegetative cover. 152 H. H.C ET AL. Table 1. Assigned ranking and weightages for prioritization analysis. Si.No Parameter Class Infiltration rate Rank Maximum Weightage 1 Rainfall >800 High Infiltration potential 4 5 700–800 mm/year Medium Infiltration potential 3 600–700 mm/year Low Infiltration potential 2 <600 mm/year Very low Infiltration potential 1 2 Lithology Charnockite High Infiltration potential 4 20 Closepet Granite Medium Infiltration potential 3 Peninsular Gneisses Low Infiltration potential 2 Quartzite Very low Infiltration potential 1 3 Drainage network density Low <2 High Infiltration potential 4 15 Moderate 2–3 Medium Infiltration potential 3 High >3 Low Infiltration potential 2 4 Slope Nearly Level (0–1) High Infiltration potential 4 15 Very gentle(1–3) High Infiltration potential 4 Gentle(1–3) Medium Infiltration potential 3 Moderate(5–10) Medium Infiltration potential 3 Strong(10–15) Very low Infiltration potential 1 Moderately steep to steep(15–35) Very low Infiltration potential 1 Very steep(>35) Impermeable 1 5 Lineament density High High Infiltration potential 4 10 Moderate Medium Infiltration potential 3 Low Low Infiltration potential 2 6 Hydrogeomorphic Units Channel Island High Infiltration potential 4 20 Valley High Infiltration potential 4 Inselberg High Infiltration potential 4 Moderately weathered pediplain Medium Infiltration potential 3 Shallow weathered pediplain Medium Infiltration potential 3 Pediment Low Infiltration potential 2 Pediment Inselberg Complex Low Infiltration potential 2 Denudation Hill Very low Infiltration potential 1 Residual Very low Infiltration potential 1 Structural Very low Infiltration potential 1 7 Land use Land Cover Waterbodies Very High Infiltration potential 5 15 Agricultural land Medium Infiltration potential 3 Forest Low Infiltration potential 2 Others(Plantations) Low Infiltration potential 2 Wasteland Very high Infiltration potential 1 Built-up land Very low Infiltration potential 1 Figure 2. Sangam region- river Cauvery and Arkavathi. Approximately 21% of the study area falls under the category of high drainage density. Bannimukudlu and thereby acts as a controlling factor in the development Kodihalli sub-watershed having high drainage density and formation of landforms (Vittala et al., 2008). The implies a low groundwater potential zone. entire study area is classified according to IMSD Slope (1995) guidelines into seven groups based on the per- The slope is one of the significant terrain parameters centage of slope. In the present study, the slope area, which determines infiltration and runoff in a region considered for priority setting lies between gentle GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 153 Figure 3. LISS +PAN merged image overlaid with sub-watershed boundary. Figure 4. Landsat MS overlaid with sub-watershed boundary. slope (3%) to a very steep slope (greater than 35%). As high slope indicates the presence of low potential the variation in slope is quite high, this parameter groundwater zones as water flows off the surface needs more focus. The result depicts sub-watersheds rapidly. The slope is one of the prime factors for the of Bannimukudlu and Kodihalli fall within the high positioning of the check dam. Lower the slope, the priority category which has a low potential for infiltra - greater the chances of proper positioning of check tion. Around 37% of the region falls in the very steep dams. In the present study it is considered that due slope category. A low slope (0–3%) indicates the exis- to more storage space and less runoff, nearly level and tence of high potential groundwater zones, whereas a very gently slope locations are favorable for 154 H. H.C ET AL. Figure 5. Cartosat1 DEM overlaid with sub-watershed boundary. Figure 6. Conceptual framework adopted for identification of priority zone. positioning of check dams. Figure 3 presents the slope porosity and permeability and are strong ground- map of the study area, showing an overall gentle slope water indicators (Chowdhury et al., 2009; Dinesh toward the southeast region. Kumar et al., 2007). The capabilities of remote-sen- sing data in providing vital information about sub- surface features that control the movement and storage of groundwater are of great importance in Lineament density hydrogeological studies (Deepa et al., 2016; Rao et In hard rock terrain, lineaments exhibit faulting and al., 2001; Sharma, 1979; Tolche, 2020). According to fracturing zones resulting in higher secondary Greenbaum (1985) Lineament density is defined as GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 155 Figure 7. Priority zones based on lithology. Figure 8. Priority zones based on drainage density. the total length of all lineaments divided by the area categories, namely, minor (length is less than or under study (Equation (2)) equal to 1.5 km), major (greater than 4 km), and P intermediate (greater than 1.5 km and less than or i¼n i¼1 equal to 4 km) lineaments. The Northeast and L ¼ (2) western parts of the study area witnessed high th lineament density values, indicating good ground- where L is lineament density; L is the length of i d i water potential. The present study revealed that lineament in km; A is the area under consideration in about 47% of the study area consists of low linea- sq. km. ment density spreading over all sub-watersheds The delineated lineaments from satellite data (Figure 10). were transformed into different zones based on varying lineament densities, viz. low, medium, and high in the GIS platform. A region having Hydrogeomorphic units high lineament density is appropriate for ground- water development (Sander, 2007). In the present In prioritization of watersheds, geomorphology had the study, lineaments are classified into three highest weightage due to its dominant role in the 156 H. H.C ET AL. Figure 9. Priority zones based on slope. movement and storage of groundwater (Thomas et al., Land use and Land Cover (LULC) 2009; Kumar et al., 2016). High infiltration zones have The LULC maps of Kanakapura watershed were classi- Channel Island, valley fill zones, and Inselberg. Medium fied into six main classes, namely, built-up land (settle- infiltration potential zones have moderately weathered ments), agricultural land (cropland, fallow, and pediplains, shallow-weathered pediplains, pediment, agricultural plantations), forest (scrub degraded forest pediment Inselberg complex has low infiltration poten- and forest plantation), wastelands (land with and with- tial. Very low infiltration potential zones are denuda- out scrub, barren rock/stony waste, and industrial tional hill, residual hill, and structural hill owing to their waste), and waterbodies (rivers, streams, tank) and steep slopes and high runoff, unfavorable for ground- others. They were delineated based on the image char- water prospecting. It is evident from Figure 11 that 47% acteristics like tone, texture, shape, color, association, of the study area is labeled as low to very low infiltration background, etc., using visual interpretation techniques. zones, especially the conditions of Bannimukudlu and Field verification was performed if there is any doubt on Kodihalli sub-watersheds are not favorable for control- feature identification. Higher and lower priorities were ling the movement and storage of groundwater. given to the sub-watersheds having a lower and higher Figure 10. Priority zones based on lineament density. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 157 Figure 11. Priority zones based on hydrogeomorphic units. percentage of cultivated land, respectively. The built-up watershed was delineated into nine sub-watersheds class was observed in almost all sub-watersheds, where based on various morphometric parameters. The seven Kodihalli sub-watershed occupied a large area of built- input layers considered for weighted overlay analysis are up land of about 56.42 sq. km. Sub-watersheds having a rainfall, lithology, drainage density, slope, hydrogeo- higher percentage of wasteland were given higher prior- morphic units, lineament density, and LULC. In order ity. The eastern side of Kanakapura watershed (Figure to bring all the thematic layers, having diverse, dissimilar 12) – Bannimukudlu sub-watershed comprises of max- inputs, into an integrated analysis, a common scale of imum wasteland area of 22.03 sq. km with a denuda- value is applied to each layer. Hence, the sub-watersheds tional geomorphic unit. About 45% of the study area were categorized into four levels of ranking, ranging from falls under the low infiltration zone, is designated as a 1 to 4, on the basis of their infiltration potential, namely: high priority area, characterized by built-up, forest, and very low, low, medium, and high, respectively. Each layer wasteland which includes Bannimukudlu and Kodihalli is assigned a weightage based on its importance in con- sub-watersheds. tribution towards the groundwater recharge process. Lithology and hydrogeomorphic units were assigned V. Weighted overlay analysis the highest weightage, 20 each, drainage density, slope, The present study is an effort to prioritize sub-watersheds and LULC were given 15 each, lineament density was of the Kanakapura watershed. The Kanakapura assigned a weightage of 10, and rainfall was given the least Figure 12. Priority zones based on land-use land cover. 158 H. H.C ET AL. weightage, 5. As a result of weighted overlay analysis, the VII. Conclusion and recommendations sub-watersheds were classified into the four scales of Prioritization of sub-watershed is the foremost task priority, namely: high, medium, low, and very low. towards integrated and efficient watershed develop- ment and management, which will further aid deci- VI. Results and discussion sion-makers and planners achieve the appropriate allocation of resources. This paper summarizes the Figure 13 represents the weighted overlay model of the integrated approach for developing a multicriteria study area. It is observed from Figure 13 that highly prioritization of sub-watersheds in the Kanakapura favorable groundwater potential zones are located watershed area, Ramanagaram District, Karnataka. along charnockite lithologic zones, sandy loamy soil The entire area has been divided into nine sub-water- zones, low drainage density areas, high lineament sheds and prioritization has been carried out consid- density locations, valley, inselberg zones, gentle to ering various parameters, including rainfall, drainage nearly level slope zones, high rainfall intensity zones, density, slope, drainage density, lineament density, and waterbodies such as dam, streams, and tanks. hydrogeomorphic units, and LULC. On the basis of Moderately favorable zones for groundwater poten- priority and cumulative weightage to each thematic tial are located along with medium lineament areas, map, the sub-watersheds are grouped into four classes: moderate drainage density zones, gneissic rock zones, high, medium, low, and very low priorities. sandy clay loamy, and clay zones, moderate, pediment The results of prioritization analyses reveal that zones, agricultural land, moderate to the gentle slope Bannimukudlu, Kodihalli, Dodda Alahalli, Gadasahalli with medium rainfall intensity zones. sub-watersheds are under high priority. These sub-water- Finally, highly preferred and favorable zones for the sheds may be surveyed comprehensively for soil and groundwater resource conservation and management water conservation initiatives, water resource develop- are identified in the southern and eastern parts of the ment, and proper land-use planning. This will help in study area, as shown in Figure 14. the creation of a detailed database under each natural The results from weighted overlay analysis reveal resource theme, which is essential for effective and effi - that Bannimukudlu, Kodihalli, Dodda Alahalli, cient conservation and management of deteriorating Gadasahalli sub-watersheds rank highest in weightage watersheds. and considered as high priority zones. Out of the Based on the prioritization results, the following remaining five watersheds, Bennagodu, Horalagallu, action plans are recommended. Madarahalli, and Mudagod fall under the low and very low priority category, and Maralebbekupe falls (i) It is recommended to construct a major check under the medium category of prioritization. dam near Doddahalla stream (Figure 14) as well The check dams are recommended to regulate the as two minor check dams in Bannimukudlu sub- surface water, thereby increasing its influence over the watershed, two check dams in Kodihalli sub- command area and the groundwater levels. Percolation watershed, one check dam between Bennagodu tanks are recommended across the streams to distribute and Madarahalli sub-watershed and one percola- the groundwater recharge over a large area and to have tion tank in Bannimukudlu sub-watershed, assured augmented water tables. Figure 13. Prioritization map of Kanakapura watershed. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 159 Figure 14. Integration of thematic layers to show conservation and management of water recourses in Kanakapura watershed. 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Prioritization of sub-watersheds of the Kanakapura Watershed in the Arkavathi River Basin, Karnataka, India- using Remote sensing and GIS

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GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 2021, VOL. 5, NO. 2, 149–160 INWASCON https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2020.1846841 RESEARCH ARTICLE Prioritization of sub-watersheds of the Kanakapura Watershed in the Arkavathi River Basin, Karnataka, India- using Remote sensing and GIS a b a c Hema hc , Govindaiah S , Lakshmi Srikanth and HJ Surendra a b Department of Civil Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India; Department of Civil Engineering, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru, India; Department of Civil Engineering, Atria Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 30 March 2020 Prioritization of sub-watersheds is a crucial aspect of watershed management as it may not be Accepted 4 October 2020 possible to execute development programs at a time for entire watersheds in a basin owing to the paucity of financial resources. The present study attempts to prioritize sub-watersheds in KEYWORDS the Kanakapura watershed, in Ramanagara district, Karnataka, based on the multi-criteria Sub-watershed prioritization; ranking method. This process involves extraction and determination of various parameters remote sensing; GIS; such as rainfall, lithology, drainage density, slope, lineament, hydro geomorphology, land-use, thematic map; and land-cover, using information from rain gauges, topographical sheets, and satellite ima- hydrogeomorphic units; weighted index overlay gery in Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. Kanakapura watershed is subdivided analysis into nine sub-watersheds, namely, Bannimukudlu, Bennagodu, Doddaalahalli, Gadasahalli, Horalagallu, Kodihalli, Madarahalli, Maralebbekupe, and Mudagod. Priorities indexing of each of the parameters was done, based on their impact significance, and overlay analysis was performed to identify critical sub-watersheds. Some of the strategies proposed for effective conservation and management of water resources are the construction of a check dam, implementation of water harvesting methods, identification of artificial recharge sites. The results of the study show that priority needs to be given to the Bannimukudlu and Kodihalli sub-watersheds followed by remaining sub-watersheds to regulate surface water flow thereby improving water table level. I. Introduction Watershed prioritization may be described as the process of identifying environmentally stressed sub-watersheds Management of water resources continues to be a chal- or pockets, for taking steps for soil conservation on a lenge in developing countries like India. Water resource priority basis. Several scientific criteria based on soil loss, development calls for addressing critical issues of storage, sediment yield, topographic, or morphological factors conservation, and subsequently utilization of surface and have been applied individually in the past to identify subsurface water.Towards evolving a comprehensive environmentally stressed sub-watersheds/areas (Pandal management plan for suitable conservation and utiliza- et al., 2005; Shrimali et al., 2001). tion of available water resources in a country, space In order to achieve sustainable development of technology plays a crucial role. Combining conventional watershed, several attempts have been made to rank groundwater measurement techniques and remote sen- them based on their priority. Morphometric parameters sing (RS) methods set the stage for attaining optimum are the key elements in determining the quantitative planning and execution of water resource projects. estimation of watershed characteristics (Bhattacharya Conventional data can be supplemented by the synoptic et al., 2019; Biswas et al., 1999; Strahler, 1964). and repetitive coverage of satellites to monitor the pro- Morphometric analysis requires measurement of three gress and impact of the aforementioned projects. RS, in important aspects – linear, aerial, and slope of drainage combination with Geographical Information System basin (Nautiyal, 1994). Earlier work was carried out in the (GIS) produces terrain maps, containing detailed infor- Kanakapura watershed on morphometric analysis mation of the variables under study. (Hema and Govindaiah 2012) and land-use land-cover Effective and efficient planning and maintenance of mapping (Hema et al., 2012). Based on the distribution of natural resources are the primary concern for sustainable the stream network Kankapura watershed is divided into development. The basic units for the management of land nine sub-watersheds. Land use and land cover (LULC) and water resources include drainage basins, catchments, change is another important integrating parameter for and sub-catchments (Moore et al., 1991). Watersheds are watershed prioritization under the GIS platform (Altaf natural hydrologic bodies that extend over a finite area of et al., 2014; Malik & Bhat, 2014; Sujatha et al., 2014). Slope land from which rainwater flows to a defined gully, river, and drainage density give valuable information on the or stream at any specific point (Kumar & Kumar, 2011). structural aspects of drainage basin, namely, linear, aerial, CONTACT Hema HC hemagis4@gmail.com Department of Civil Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru 560037, India © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the International Water, Air & Soil Conservation Society(INWASCON). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 150 H. H.C ET AL. and relief, which are important factors in prioritization as II. Study area well as sustainable planning and management of water- The Kanakapura watershed forms a part of the Arkavathi sheds. (Clarke, 1966; Javed et al., 2011; Malik et al., 2011). river basin which is one of the principal tributaries of the The drainage density maps provide an idea about the river Cauvery in Karnataka. The watershed is bounded permeability of rocks and also indicate the yield of the between 12°16ʹN and 12°35ʹN latitudes, 77°15ʹE and 77° basin. Remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information 38ʹ E longitudes, covering an area of about 81550 ha. System (GIS) play a significant role in the characteriza- (Figure 1). The entire watershed is divided into nine tion and prioritization of watersheds of the past two sub-watersheds, namely, Bannimukudlu, Bennagodu, decades. DoddaAlahalli, Gadasahalli, Horalagallu, Kodihalli, In this research, the Kanakapura basin has been con- Madarahalli, Maralebbekupe, and Mudagod, area of sidered as a study area. Groundwater in the basin is each ranges from 3000 to 25100 ha (NRSA, 1995). It has mostly in the fractured aquifer as the weathered aquifer an average elevation of 638 m. The drainage pattern of the has been exploited over the years. The hydrology of the study area is dendritic to sub-dendritic in nature. The basin is rapidly changing due to urban agglomeration. climatic characteristic is generally salubrious, tempera- This has also affected the quality of groundwater in the ture ranges from 28.4°C to 35.8°C, the lowest temperature basin. Therefore, there is a need to protect the ground- being recorded during the month of January and the water through proper land-use practices, prevent its pol- driest season is April–May. The average annual rainfall lution by establishing point sources, proper waste is 741 mm. Lithologic characteristics of this terrain are disposal, and large-scale rainwater harvesting. Granite and Peninsular Gneisses, and Charnockite is The objective of this research is to utilize an integrated present in some places. In general, soil characteristics in approach to prioritize the sub-watersheds for conserva- this region are shallow to deep, drained to well-drained, tion and management of water resources based on the yellowish to reddish-brown with moderate to high infil - data on geological conditions, rainfall, morphometric tration potential. Land-use patterns are predominantly parameters, hydrogeomorphic units, land-use, and agriculture and forest. land-cover mapping by applying weighted factor analysis. This work aims to provide the sub-watershed wise III. Data sources status by integrating data sets to enhance the potenti- ality of the sub-watersheds. The study area, Kanakapura watershed is delineated So far, no research attempt has been made in this using Survey of India (SOI) topographic sheets bearing region to analyze and prioritize the parameters that influ - survey numbers 57 H/6, 57 H/7, 57 H/10, and 57 H/11 in ence the deterioration of watersheds based on various a 1:50000 scale. Various thematic maps-rainfall, drainage, criteria. The current study will aid policymakers to plan geology, slope, hydro-geomorphology, lineaments, land- maintenance interventions and resource allocation. use, and land-cover (LULC) characteristics were pre- Figure 1. Location map – Kanakapura watershed. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 151 pared from topographic sheets, satellite images, and other across the study area’s south-east to south-west regions. reference maps, obtained from Karnataka State Remote- Approximately 75% of the study region with an average Sensing Center. Rainfall data from different rain gauge annual rainfall of less than 700 mm, covering the sub- stations of the study area were collected from the statis- watersheds of Bennogodu, Bannimukudlu, Kodihalli, tical department, Government of Karnataka. Maralebbekupe, and Madarahalli was identified as very Lithological information was extracted from the low or low infiltration potential zones, ranked 1 or 2. Geological Survey of India (GSI) map. Drainage density and hydro-geomorphic units were derived from LISS III Lithology + PAN (Figure 3) merged dataset and topographic sheet. The drainage map of the study area was generated from The present study area is a part of hard rock terrain vectorization of the topographic sheet as well as satellite consisting of four rock types, namely Charnokite, imagery, representing the network of streams and assign- Closepet Granite, Peninsular gneisses, and Quartzite. ing stream orders (up to sixth order). LULC information These litho-units were considered for understanding was extracted from Landsat TM (Figure 4). The hydro- groundwater distribution and occurrence. Charnokites geomorphological map, generated for the Kanakapura are predominantly exposed in the study area’s southern watershed is based on a combination of visual interpreta- region, showed high potential for infiltration, and it was tion of satellite image, topographic map, and on-site verified with ground truth verification near the Sangam verification. LULC classification is based on the classifica - region (Figure 2). The study area’s litho-units were eval- tion scheme developed by the National Remote-Sensing uated and correct weights were allocated based on their Agency (NRSA, 1995). The LULC maps were prepared hydrogeological properties (Table 1). Figure 7 shows the and classified into built-up land, agricultural land, fallow distribution of Peninsular gneisses and Quartzites having land, plantation, forest, wasteland, and waterbodies, a low capacity for penetration in the study area. The based on visual image interpretation from Landsat TM exposures of granite in the low-lying areas are weathered (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/), path 144, and row 51. and decomposed, and in essence coarse-grained. Around This is done in combination with IRS-1D LISS III FCC of 23% of the study area is having a low infiltration zone band 2,3,4 and SOI topographic sheets, Cartosat-1 digital based on lithology. Due to lithological characteristics with platform. Slope and lineament density were derived from very low penetration qualities, sub-watersheds Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Bennagodu, Bannimukudlu, and Madarahalli are under It is evident from (Figure 9) that NE, NW, and SW high priority range. parts of the area showed maximum relief (upto 1001 m above MSL), while the rest of the area is undulating Drainage network density and plain in the central part. Minimum relief is observed in the southern part, from 276 m above MSL. The drainage pattern of the study area is dendritic to sub-dendritic in nature. Drainage density is defined as the ratio of the total length of the stream to the area of IV. Prioritization methodology the drainage basin (Edet et al., 1998; Horton, 1932), as It is essential to properly plan the developmental activities shown in Equation (1) below: on a priority basis keeping in mind the huge investment i¼n involved, in order to achieve beneficial results. This i¼1 resource-based, integrated approach is realistic and D ¼ (1) helps in addressing precarious areas to arrive at an appro- th priate solution. Each parameter was divided into different where D is drainage density; S is the length of i stream d i categories and weightage was assigned based on their in km; A is the area under consideration in sq. km. relative importance. The weightage system followed in A drainage density map provides an understanding of this research is completely based on local terrain and may rock permeability and also indicates basin yield. High vary from place to place. The weightage and ranks drainage density is counterproductive to the existence assigned for various categories of parameters is shown of groundwater, moderate drainage density has modest in Table 1 and the conceptual framework adopted for the groundwater capacity and low/no drainage density is identification of the priority zone is depicted in Figure 6. considered as a low groundwater potential zone (Todd & Mays, 2005). The drainage density map is classified into three categories, viz. low (<2 km/sq.km), medium (2 Rainfall to 3 km/sq.km), and high (>3 km/sq. km), as shown in Rainfall plays a significant role in the hydrologic process Figure 8. The drainage density in the study area varies and is the primary source for groundwater infiltration. between 1.71 and 3.04 km/sq.km indicating very coarse Average annual rainfall precipitation has been considered to coarse drainage texture. In the present study, it is to recognize the possible capacity for infiltration. The understood that low drainage density indicates a region annual rainfall map showed a declining pattern of rainfall of highly permeable subsoil and dense vegetative cover. 152 H. H.C ET AL. Table 1. Assigned ranking and weightages for prioritization analysis. Si.No Parameter Class Infiltration rate Rank Maximum Weightage 1 Rainfall >800 High Infiltration potential 4 5 700–800 mm/year Medium Infiltration potential 3 600–700 mm/year Low Infiltration potential 2 <600 mm/year Very low Infiltration potential 1 2 Lithology Charnockite High Infiltration potential 4 20 Closepet Granite Medium Infiltration potential 3 Peninsular Gneisses Low Infiltration potential 2 Quartzite Very low Infiltration potential 1 3 Drainage network density Low <2 High Infiltration potential 4 15 Moderate 2–3 Medium Infiltration potential 3 High >3 Low Infiltration potential 2 4 Slope Nearly Level (0–1) High Infiltration potential 4 15 Very gentle(1–3) High Infiltration potential 4 Gentle(1–3) Medium Infiltration potential 3 Moderate(5–10) Medium Infiltration potential 3 Strong(10–15) Very low Infiltration potential 1 Moderately steep to steep(15–35) Very low Infiltration potential 1 Very steep(>35) Impermeable 1 5 Lineament density High High Infiltration potential 4 10 Moderate Medium Infiltration potential 3 Low Low Infiltration potential 2 6 Hydrogeomorphic Units Channel Island High Infiltration potential 4 20 Valley High Infiltration potential 4 Inselberg High Infiltration potential 4 Moderately weathered pediplain Medium Infiltration potential 3 Shallow weathered pediplain Medium Infiltration potential 3 Pediment Low Infiltration potential 2 Pediment Inselberg Complex Low Infiltration potential 2 Denudation Hill Very low Infiltration potential 1 Residual Very low Infiltration potential 1 Structural Very low Infiltration potential 1 7 Land use Land Cover Waterbodies Very High Infiltration potential 5 15 Agricultural land Medium Infiltration potential 3 Forest Low Infiltration potential 2 Others(Plantations) Low Infiltration potential 2 Wasteland Very high Infiltration potential 1 Built-up land Very low Infiltration potential 1 Figure 2. Sangam region- river Cauvery and Arkavathi. Approximately 21% of the study area falls under the category of high drainage density. Bannimukudlu and thereby acts as a controlling factor in the development Kodihalli sub-watershed having high drainage density and formation of landforms (Vittala et al., 2008). The implies a low groundwater potential zone. entire study area is classified according to IMSD Slope (1995) guidelines into seven groups based on the per- The slope is one of the significant terrain parameters centage of slope. In the present study, the slope area, which determines infiltration and runoff in a region considered for priority setting lies between gentle GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 153 Figure 3. LISS +PAN merged image overlaid with sub-watershed boundary. Figure 4. Landsat MS overlaid with sub-watershed boundary. slope (3%) to a very steep slope (greater than 35%). As high slope indicates the presence of low potential the variation in slope is quite high, this parameter groundwater zones as water flows off the surface needs more focus. The result depicts sub-watersheds rapidly. The slope is one of the prime factors for the of Bannimukudlu and Kodihalli fall within the high positioning of the check dam. Lower the slope, the priority category which has a low potential for infiltra - greater the chances of proper positioning of check tion. Around 37% of the region falls in the very steep dams. In the present study it is considered that due slope category. A low slope (0–3%) indicates the exis- to more storage space and less runoff, nearly level and tence of high potential groundwater zones, whereas a very gently slope locations are favorable for 154 H. H.C ET AL. Figure 5. Cartosat1 DEM overlaid with sub-watershed boundary. Figure 6. Conceptual framework adopted for identification of priority zone. positioning of check dams. Figure 3 presents the slope porosity and permeability and are strong ground- map of the study area, showing an overall gentle slope water indicators (Chowdhury et al., 2009; Dinesh toward the southeast region. Kumar et al., 2007). The capabilities of remote-sen- sing data in providing vital information about sub- surface features that control the movement and storage of groundwater are of great importance in Lineament density hydrogeological studies (Deepa et al., 2016; Rao et In hard rock terrain, lineaments exhibit faulting and al., 2001; Sharma, 1979; Tolche, 2020). According to fracturing zones resulting in higher secondary Greenbaum (1985) Lineament density is defined as GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 155 Figure 7. Priority zones based on lithology. Figure 8. Priority zones based on drainage density. the total length of all lineaments divided by the area categories, namely, minor (length is less than or under study (Equation (2)) equal to 1.5 km), major (greater than 4 km), and P intermediate (greater than 1.5 km and less than or i¼n i¼1 equal to 4 km) lineaments. The Northeast and L ¼ (2) western parts of the study area witnessed high th lineament density values, indicating good ground- where L is lineament density; L is the length of i d i water potential. The present study revealed that lineament in km; A is the area under consideration in about 47% of the study area consists of low linea- sq. km. ment density spreading over all sub-watersheds The delineated lineaments from satellite data (Figure 10). were transformed into different zones based on varying lineament densities, viz. low, medium, and high in the GIS platform. A region having Hydrogeomorphic units high lineament density is appropriate for ground- water development (Sander, 2007). In the present In prioritization of watersheds, geomorphology had the study, lineaments are classified into three highest weightage due to its dominant role in the 156 H. H.C ET AL. Figure 9. Priority zones based on slope. movement and storage of groundwater (Thomas et al., Land use and Land Cover (LULC) 2009; Kumar et al., 2016). High infiltration zones have The LULC maps of Kanakapura watershed were classi- Channel Island, valley fill zones, and Inselberg. Medium fied into six main classes, namely, built-up land (settle- infiltration potential zones have moderately weathered ments), agricultural land (cropland, fallow, and pediplains, shallow-weathered pediplains, pediment, agricultural plantations), forest (scrub degraded forest pediment Inselberg complex has low infiltration poten- and forest plantation), wastelands (land with and with- tial. Very low infiltration potential zones are denuda- out scrub, barren rock/stony waste, and industrial tional hill, residual hill, and structural hill owing to their waste), and waterbodies (rivers, streams, tank) and steep slopes and high runoff, unfavorable for ground- others. They were delineated based on the image char- water prospecting. It is evident from Figure 11 that 47% acteristics like tone, texture, shape, color, association, of the study area is labeled as low to very low infiltration background, etc., using visual interpretation techniques. zones, especially the conditions of Bannimukudlu and Field verification was performed if there is any doubt on Kodihalli sub-watersheds are not favorable for control- feature identification. Higher and lower priorities were ling the movement and storage of groundwater. given to the sub-watersheds having a lower and higher Figure 10. Priority zones based on lineament density. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 157 Figure 11. Priority zones based on hydrogeomorphic units. percentage of cultivated land, respectively. The built-up watershed was delineated into nine sub-watersheds class was observed in almost all sub-watersheds, where based on various morphometric parameters. The seven Kodihalli sub-watershed occupied a large area of built- input layers considered for weighted overlay analysis are up land of about 56.42 sq. km. Sub-watersheds having a rainfall, lithology, drainage density, slope, hydrogeo- higher percentage of wasteland were given higher prior- morphic units, lineament density, and LULC. In order ity. The eastern side of Kanakapura watershed (Figure to bring all the thematic layers, having diverse, dissimilar 12) – Bannimukudlu sub-watershed comprises of max- inputs, into an integrated analysis, a common scale of imum wasteland area of 22.03 sq. km with a denuda- value is applied to each layer. Hence, the sub-watersheds tional geomorphic unit. About 45% of the study area were categorized into four levels of ranking, ranging from falls under the low infiltration zone, is designated as a 1 to 4, on the basis of their infiltration potential, namely: high priority area, characterized by built-up, forest, and very low, low, medium, and high, respectively. Each layer wasteland which includes Bannimukudlu and Kodihalli is assigned a weightage based on its importance in con- sub-watersheds. tribution towards the groundwater recharge process. Lithology and hydrogeomorphic units were assigned V. Weighted overlay analysis the highest weightage, 20 each, drainage density, slope, The present study is an effort to prioritize sub-watersheds and LULC were given 15 each, lineament density was of the Kanakapura watershed. The Kanakapura assigned a weightage of 10, and rainfall was given the least Figure 12. Priority zones based on land-use land cover. 158 H. H.C ET AL. weightage, 5. As a result of weighted overlay analysis, the VII. Conclusion and recommendations sub-watersheds were classified into the four scales of Prioritization of sub-watershed is the foremost task priority, namely: high, medium, low, and very low. towards integrated and efficient watershed develop- ment and management, which will further aid deci- VI. Results and discussion sion-makers and planners achieve the appropriate allocation of resources. This paper summarizes the Figure 13 represents the weighted overlay model of the integrated approach for developing a multicriteria study area. It is observed from Figure 13 that highly prioritization of sub-watersheds in the Kanakapura favorable groundwater potential zones are located watershed area, Ramanagaram District, Karnataka. along charnockite lithologic zones, sandy loamy soil The entire area has been divided into nine sub-water- zones, low drainage density areas, high lineament sheds and prioritization has been carried out consid- density locations, valley, inselberg zones, gentle to ering various parameters, including rainfall, drainage nearly level slope zones, high rainfall intensity zones, density, slope, drainage density, lineament density, and waterbodies such as dam, streams, and tanks. hydrogeomorphic units, and LULC. On the basis of Moderately favorable zones for groundwater poten- priority and cumulative weightage to each thematic tial are located along with medium lineament areas, map, the sub-watersheds are grouped into four classes: moderate drainage density zones, gneissic rock zones, high, medium, low, and very low priorities. sandy clay loamy, and clay zones, moderate, pediment The results of prioritization analyses reveal that zones, agricultural land, moderate to the gentle slope Bannimukudlu, Kodihalli, Dodda Alahalli, Gadasahalli with medium rainfall intensity zones. sub-watersheds are under high priority. These sub-water- Finally, highly preferred and favorable zones for the sheds may be surveyed comprehensively for soil and groundwater resource conservation and management water conservation initiatives, water resource develop- are identified in the southern and eastern parts of the ment, and proper land-use planning. This will help in study area, as shown in Figure 14. the creation of a detailed database under each natural The results from weighted overlay analysis reveal resource theme, which is essential for effective and effi - that Bannimukudlu, Kodihalli, Dodda Alahalli, cient conservation and management of deteriorating Gadasahalli sub-watersheds rank highest in weightage watersheds. and considered as high priority zones. Out of the Based on the prioritization results, the following remaining five watersheds, Bennagodu, Horalagallu, action plans are recommended. Madarahalli, and Mudagod fall under the low and very low priority category, and Maralebbekupe falls (i) It is recommended to construct a major check under the medium category of prioritization. dam near Doddahalla stream (Figure 14) as well The check dams are recommended to regulate the as two minor check dams in Bannimukudlu sub- surface water, thereby increasing its influence over the watershed, two check dams in Kodihalli sub- command area and the groundwater levels. Percolation watershed, one check dam between Bennagodu tanks are recommended across the streams to distribute and Madarahalli sub-watershed and one percola- the groundwater recharge over a large area and to have tion tank in Bannimukudlu sub-watershed, assured augmented water tables. Figure 13. Prioritization map of Kanakapura watershed. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 159 Figure 14. Integration of thematic layers to show conservation and management of water recourses in Kanakapura watershed. 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Journal

Geology Ecology and Landscapes – Taylor & Francis

Published: Apr 3, 2021

Keywords: Sub-watershed prioritization; remote sensing; GIS; thematic map; hydrogeomorphic units; weighted index overlay analysis

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