Underground dam construction site selection using Boolean logic and analytical hierarchy process methods using GIS (Case study: Hassanabad watershed in Kermanshah province)

One of the main challenges facing water resources management is groundwater conservation and its sustainable use. Building an underground dam can be one way to solve this problem if it is possible to do. Hassanabad watershed lies between the Shiyan and Mahidasht plains in Kermanshah province. However, despite the same rainfall in the region, this basin has more unfavourable conditions in terms of water resources, vegetation and type of agriculture than the two adjacent plains. The purpose of this study is to identify suitable areas for the construction of an underground dam in the Hassanabad basin. To achieve this goal, after preparing different layers of information in Arc GIS, areas with potential were investigated using the Boolean method based on slope, material and land structure criteria, hydrological conditions and land use. Consequently, 7 axes were selected as potentially suitable locations for underground dam construction on the southern margin of the Hassanabad Plain. In the next step, these axes were prioritized by the analytical hierarchy process method based on general socio-economic criteria, dam reservoir, dam location and water characteristics, and axes 6, 7 and 1 took the first to third orders, respectively. According to aerial photography maps, field visits, structural geology analysis, and groundwater flow direction, axis 6 is identified as the most optimal axis for the construction of the dam.