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GIS Application in Water Resource Management


Rebecca Hubbard

GEOG 560 GIScience I: Introduction to Geographic Information Science

As a conservationist working primarily with water drainages, I apply water resource management tactics through the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to support the longevity of trails and the surrounding ecosystems. GIS is used in my field for mapping, planning, creating, and documenting drainage systems and predicting their impact on the environment. Listed below are annotated bibliographies of various GIS-based tools used in supporting more efficient and sustainable water allocation strategies. Any inquiries or comments can be submitted at the bottom of the page. Thank you!


Al-Nasrawi, Jones, B. G., Alyazichi, Y. M., Hamylton, S. M., Jameel, M. T., & Hammadi, A. F. (2016). Civil-GIS incorporated approach for water resource management in a developed catchment for urban-geomorphic sustainability: Tallowa Dam, southeastern Australia. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, 4(4), 304–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswcr.2016.11.001

Dams have been known to cause a variety of harm to the environment including the quality of water, transfer of sediment, increased erosion, and salinity infiltration towards the bottom of a stream and coastal regions. In addition to this, dams also cause damage to marine and coastal ecosystems. While this information may be true, damming remains a popular water resource management practice to ensure humans have access to enough water. To discover ways to sustainably solve these issues surrounding dams, a study was conducted on the Tallowa Dam on the Shoalhaven River in the southeastern region of Australia. During times when more water is flowing through the reservoir, the use of civil infrastructure can be used to create a flushing method to remove sediment and contaminants. This civil infrastructure consists of pipes that are operated by automatic gates at the bottom of the dam to collect these particles during periods when excess water is in the dam. To decide where these pipes will be located, ArcGIS 10.2 was utilized. This plan would help clear the water of sediment and contaminants leading to better water quality and longer storage periods. Moreover, this plan would prevent erosion and increase salinity percentages by getting sediment down to the bottom of rivers and streams. To see if this plan would be beneficial to the reservoir, the water and sediment samples needed to be taken to determine the current quality. The seven water samples that were taken showed that the pH, clarity, and salinity decreased meaning that the sediment was floating instead of sitting at the base of the reservoir. The sediment samples showed that the base of the reservoir was fairly muddy. From this data, it was determined that these pipes would be a sustainable solution to issues associated with this particular dam. Through ArcGIS 10.2, digital elevation models (DEMs) and contour maps were generated based on information obtained from the samples to identify areas where sediment was collected in the Tallowa reservoir. This was used to determine where collecting pipes would be placed in order to remove sediment and pollutants from the reservoir. This study can be used to help to make dams more sustainable for riparian and aquatic ecosystems.


Chowdary, Ramakrishnan, D., Srivastava, Y. K., Chandran, V., & Jeyaram, A. (2009). Integrated Water Resource Development Plan for Sustainable Management of Mayurakshi Watershed, India using Remote Sensing and GIS. Water Resources Management, 23(8), 1581–1602. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-008-9342-9

Water resource management plans are imperative to providing sustainable productivity to water drainage regions. In this study, the Mayurakshi drainage basin of Jharkhand in India was used to determine how a better water resource management plan was going to be developed. This region had been suffering from soil degradation along with inadequate management of water resources. The study needs to address these issues by creating various confined layers, adjusting possible groundwater sectors, and preparing a water resources development plan for specific areas determined through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Through the use of this, it was found that there are possible sectors where artificial recharge can be placed and groundwater can be improved. Remote sensing was used to generate confined maps that produced data that determined issues and solutions for the accessibility, responsiveness, and extremity of the water resources in terms of usage. Using GIS, layers were created illustrating the potential sectors for groundwater and artificial recharge development. Remote sensing was also used to adjust possible groundwater sectors. This revealed that the agricultural land was located in the northern and central regions of the study region. Using both of these maps, a water resource plan can be implemented to improve soil degradation and water resource management in the study area. The combination of remote sensing and GIS within this study can be used to locate areas on land to place groundwater and artificial recharge developments to improve water resource management.


Criollo, Velasco, V., Nardi, A., Manuel de Vries, L., Riera, C., Scheiber, L., Jurado, A., Brouyère, S., Pujades, E., Rossetto, R., & Vázquez-Suñé, E. (2019). AkvaGIS: An open-sourced for water quantity and quality management. Computers & Geosciences, 127, 123–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2018.10.012

Using the Geographic Information System (GIS) has become a critical tool for scientists in assessing the quality of water, determining risks in specific regions, and improving programs. Since GIS is extremely useful for scientists, it is critical to have easily accessible and reliable Geographic Information Systems. Many scientists have used licensed GIS platforms to conduct their research. These licensed platforms can be problematic as they typically have finite resources and their codes are not publicly accessible. In addition, these platforms have made it extremely difficult to manage data and share it with third-party programs. As a result of these inconvenient programs, FREEWAT was created. FREEWAT is an open-sourced, user-friendly, and free extension to QGIS. Data linked to water sources within this program can be edited, viewed, analyzed, and transferred. There is a unit within FREEWAT called AkvaGIS that is capable of running and displaying groundwater and chemical characteristics on various scales, integrating data from different places, and formulating groundwater input files for analytical models. QGIS can be used on Linux, Unic, Macintosh, and Windows and even has various writing and reading configurations. This program is useful to all scientists looking for an affordable and easily accessible way to work with water resource data using GIS tools.


de Deus, L. A., de Britto, F. G., dos Santos, C. S., de Melo França, C. A., Andrade, C. D., Ferreira, V. J., de Berrêdo Viana, D., & de Freitas, M. A. (2016). GeoAmazonas—GIS for Water Resources Management. Journal of Geographic Information System, 08(05), 558–577. https://doi.org/10.4236/jgis.2016.85047

This study intends to introduce the steps involved in creating a Geographic Information System (GIS) that will aid in the management of water resources in the Amazon Basin. It is important to create management plans with the use of GIS in order to help sustain and protect the river basin throughout the varying countries that border it, especially with increasing complications due to climate change. These stages in the creation of GIS are vital in order to understand how the hydrologic cycle in the Amazon works, the amount of moisture in the region, and the consequences that are related or unrelated to these factors. To determine this, GIS can be used to input, collect, store, and restore data by converting information from the actual world to specific objectives that can be achieved. The Amazon River Basin was chosen for this study due to the basin’s importance and the complexity of its shared borders between Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Through the implementation of these stages, a more definitive range of the GeoAmazonas (GIS of the Amazon River Basin) was determined, drainage regions of the river basin were clarified, and maps of the ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization) countries were designed, and systemized. 


El Garouani, Aharik, K., & El Garouani, S. (2020). Water balance assessment using remote sensing, Wet-Spass model, CN-SCS, and GIS for water resources management in Saïss Plain (Morocco). Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 13(15). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05730-y

The utilization of aquifers is important for collecting and reserving water from rain, melting snow, and human usage. There has been a decrease in rainfall across North Africa. When there is a decrease in rainfall, there tends to be an increase in flooding and droughts. These aquifers are important as they supply the wetlands, rivers, and springs in North Africa with water. If rainfall decreases, the amount of water being put into the aquifers decreases; leaving a low water supply to wetlands, rivers, and springs. To determine which aquifers in this region were productive, GIS was used to create a map. This map was utilized in locating aquifers in the North African region. To determine the water levels with the aquifers, Wet-Spass was used by regulating the transfer of water between the land and the troposphere. To determine the amount of excess water there is from rainfall, the CN-SCS method was used. The aquifer studied was that of Saïss which is located near Morocco. The Saïss flatland supplies water to the 2,408,584 individuals living near Morocco. These individuals rely on the water basin not only for day-to-day usage but also for agriculture. If there is a lack of water in the Saïss basin, agriculture in the region will suffer. As a result of the use of GIS, Wet-Spass, and CN-SCS, it was demonstrated that the aquifer’s level of water changes over time and is not enough to sustain the nearby community. To solve this, the rules for the usage of the aquifer need to be improved. It was determined through this study that the land use of water from the aquifer was vastly different between the years 1987 to 2018. These changes were a result of increased urbanization, a decrease in forests, and growing agriculture. This has severely damaged the land and has resulted in less permeable soils and decreased water levels in the aquifer. This study can be used to re-evaluate access laws to water in order to preserve groundwater in aquifers. 


Elmahdi, Kheireldin, K., & Hamdy, A. (2006). GIS and Multi-Criteria Evaluation: Robust Tools for Integrated Water Resources Management. Water International, 31(4), 440–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060608691948

Water, especially fresh water, is a scarce natural resource in the Middle East region. ElKhalalah, located in Northern Egypt along the delta of the Nile, was studied in this paper to determine if improved advancements could be applied to water resource management for users to easily access the system. In this region, Shcitomaizes, a parasitic disease, is very common due to the contamination of the water source. Agricultural practices led to fertilizers, pesticides, and snails (which host Schitomaizes) being introduced into the region’s water sources that supply over 1.5 million people. In order to prevent pollutants from reaching fresh water sources, a better water resource management plan needs to be developed. In the study, a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) were used. A water allocation system was developed using GIS, along with any problems it might have, and recommendations were assessed using MCE. These tools were used to determine how environmental, social, and economic components can be consolidated into water resource management plans to improve agricultural practices and remove pollutants. This study can be used to determine water resource management plans associated with agriculture and its role in contaminated water.


Kumari, Dessai, K., Cardozo, Z. W., Pereira, B., Fernandes, R., Sakhardande, A., & Mascarenhas, S. (2020). River Water Resource Management and Flood Control Using GIS. In Recent Trends in Civil Engineering (pp. 373–379). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8293-6_32

Floods occur yearly in Paroda during the monsoon season along the Kushavati River embankment and are only getting worse. The flooding caused by these storms has affected neighboring communities and has damaged their economy and society. This has been a recurring problem that is not improving due to the lack of cleaning sediment from the river, intrusions on surrounding deltas, the permeability of the deltas, and accretion of surplus water. To discover ways to fix this problem, GIS can be used. In the study, GIS was used to collect data, display the data onto a topographic map (including the river and neighboring communities), determine the severe locations, locate the deltas that are in the lowest regions, discover possible areas that can be alleviated, and recommend solutions. As a result of the study, it was determined that two ponds and a trench would need to be established. The two ponds should be constructed in the lowest regions of the delta and the trench should be placed along the lowest areas around the river. The purpose of these formations is to cumulate water from the monsoonal seasons and reduce flooding from the Kushavati River. The results of this study can be used as a solution for other communities that are struggling with flooding. 


Lyazidi, Hessane, M. A., Moutei, J. F., Bahir, M., & Ouhamdouch, S. (2019). Management of water resource from semiarid area by elaborating database under GIS: case of Gareb-Bouareg aquifer (Rif, Morocco). Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 12(11), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-019-4513-y

Due to urbanization and climate change, water resources are being overused and need to be conserved. Due to the dwindling supply of this resource, humans should learn to allocate it efficiently. This concept was studied in this paper at the Gareb-Bouareg aquifer located in the Moulouya basin south of Nador City. This aquifer is fairly flat and stretches between two different plains; Gareb and Bouareg. To determine the exploitation of the water within this aquifer, data had to be collected to create a hydrodynamic simulation, and hydrogeological maps needed to be obtained by integrating the Modeling of the Gareb-Bouareg Aquifer (MONAGABO) into a GIS database. This would allow communities to use a GIS database to discover solutions to the issues with the current aquifer by creating the Hydrogeological Unit of Gareb-Bouareg (UHGB). This was a result of the usage of ArcGIS in integrating data from various water and land simulations, exploiting water and land use from agricultural practices, and digitally converting maps depicting the locations of possible aquifers. The information conducted from this study was used to determine imperative choices in regard to new developments. This study is useful in determining how the exploitation of water resources can be studied to develop water management plans to solve those problems. 


McKinney, D. C., & Cai, X. (2002). Linking GIS and Water Resources Management Models: An object-oriented method. Environmental Modelling & Software, 17(5), 413–425. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1364-8152(02)00015-4

This paper described how GIS applications through the representations of objects in a river basin can be used to handle water resource management. The river basin used in this paper to demonstrate how these applications can be used through the object-oriented method to manage water resources is the Kashkadarya River basin. This river basin is located within the Amudarya River basin in the Aral Sea of Central Asia. Throughout this river basin, water resources have been degraded due to irrigation and excess water use. To better understand how water resources are expended and how to manage them, a Geographic Information System (GIS) can be used. In this study, spatial and connecting objects combined with GIS models were used to blend visible and analytic characteristics of the river basin’s water management issues. Among the physical characteristics were river lengths, canals, drainages, reservoirs, aquifers, hydropower sites, water treatment systems, and agricultural, commercial, and industrial sites that required water. The analytic characteristics consist of a network of nodes, management laws and policies, and mathematical equations. These were combined with GIS models to input data, analyze attributes, alter variables, and review the results. 


Mishra, & Babu, R. R. (2021). GIS Based Land Capability Classification of a Watershed for Land and Water Resource Management. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 10(1), 1268–1272. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2021.1001.150

The role of agriculture in human lives is crucial as we rely heavily on food produced by farms. The agricultural industry has faced a variety of threats, including soil degradation and low yields as a result of rising temperatures and inefficient use of water. This is especially evident in India where agricultural areas in India rely heavily on rainwater for their water supply, which represents about 52% of farming areas and more than 40% of their food supply. As part of this study, Bhalukanala, which is an agricultural drainage basin located along the Dwarakeswar River in India’s eastern region, was examined. In this watershed, a Land Capability Class (LCC) map was created and the data provided by the LCC map was used to locate and recommend potential water and land use management plans. This was done through the use of GIS to create and display the usage of land and LCC maps to study various drainage basins. Using GIS, a topographic map was developed showing the entire drainage basin. To display the entire watershed, the river systems were digitally represented along with an elevation model (DEM) on the map. In the next step, a vector feature was created of the entire drainage basin by separating it from the original map. The map was then placed on top of a slope map, creating a physical geographic map. There was data presented on the texture of the soil, its depth, and its erosion level in this physical geographic map. Consequently, individual maps relating to these features were created and combined onto a singular map using GIS. This map was then used to construct a LCC map of Bhalukanala’s drainage basin. This study can be used to create better land and water resource management plans through the use of GIS and LCC maps. 


Panagopoulos, G.P., Bathrellos, G. D., Skilodimou, H. D., & Martsouka, F. A. (2012). Mapping Urban Water Demands Using Multi-Criteria Analysis and GIS. Water Resources Management, 26(5), 1347–1363. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-011-9962-3

The availability of drinking water is a concerning issue, especially on the islands of Greece. In the city of Mytilene on the Lesvos island of Greece, the quality of the groundwater has declined along with the amount of water due to climate change as well as the mishandling of water resources. This problem is crucial to the people living in Mytilene since the quality and quantity of water declined significantly. To solve this, a water management plan needed to be established. This water management plan focused on the current need for water as well as the potential need for water. In addition to resolving the problem for the residents of the city, these plans would also contribute to the development of the city by improving water distribution on a larger scale. Within this paper, the use of GIS along with the AHP method has been used to document and map the current water needs of the city as well as approximate future water needs. To determine these water needs, ten components were examined. The following criteria were considered: roads, the center of town, the coast, the structural slope, Mytilene’s General Urban Plan, locations with buildings over two stories, locations with buildings less than two stories, population, current sewerage amounts, and current water supplies.The AHP method was utilized to determine the impact of each component while the use of GIS was used to layer them on a map. The collaboration of these produced exceptional maps that were used to examine the current and future water demands to assist with managing the water resource in Mytilene.


Singh, Gupta, A., & Singh, M. (2014). Hydrological inferences from watershed analysis for water resource management using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, 17(2), 111–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2014.09.003

Climate change, increasing populations, urbanization, and inconsistent precipitation have resulted in difficulties when it comes to creating proper water management and retention plans. Due to the stresses that have been put onto water resources, it is important that they are evaluated in order to help prevent and plan accordingly. A drainage network analysis can be used to determine a river basin’s affinity based on the existing geological differences, terrain data, and formation of the basin. Based on the results of these analyses conducted across a variety of topographic regions, it was determined that this tool represents accurate data for drainage basin framework attributes. These analyses were performed in the Orr watershed of Ashok Nagar in the District of Madhya Pradesh with the use of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Digital Elevation Method (DEM), and Geographic Information System (GIS). Analyses were conducted in order to recognize the different criteria for the drainage basin to manage water sustainably. For this drainage basin, the rocks were examined for their permeability to determine how water affected them and how much yield they generated. As a result of the study conducted, the Orr drainage basin experienced minimum alleviation accompanied by an extended form. The underground structures in the watershed had excessive permeability and reduced drainage solidity. This observation highlights the need for better water resource management plans as well as sediment protection structures in the drainage basin of Orr. 


Wang, & Xie, H. (2018). A Review on Applications of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Water Resources and Flood Risk Management. Water (Basel), 10(5), 608. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050608

Humans obtain fresh water primarily from lakes, rivers, wetlands, aquifers, snowmelt, and glaciers. These water resources are crucial for the survival of humans, however, many of them are allocated inequitably across the world. Water can thus accumulate in areas humans may not be able to reach or even know about, resulting in flooding or drought in extreme circumstances. Flooding or droughts in these areas can have detrimental impacts on communities located in these regions. To mitigate this, it is important for water resources along with flooding and drought risks to be evaluated using GIS, remote sensing, geostatistics methods, and hydrologic systems. These methods were used across 12 different papers and highlighted how crucial these methods were for managing water resources. As part of these papers, glaciers were mapped, moisture was determined in the soil, groundwater was examined, flooding preparation was covered, rainfall was calculated, flood simulations were created, floods were illustrated, excess rainfall was modeled on the land surface, floods were predicted, flooding areas were surveyed, and flood simulations were created. Further, a wide variety of technologies have been used to determine and display the data in the 12 papers, including GIS, algorithms, models, satellites, and sensors. These combined technologies played vital roles in managing and mapping water resources and determining risks associated with them. More importantly, the GIS technology used in all of the papers was vital in improving water resource management and mitigating flood and drought risks.


Wienand, Nolting, U., & Kistemann, T. (2009). Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as an instrument of water resource management: a case study from a GIS-based Water Safety Plan in Germany. Water Science and Technology, 60(7), 1691–1699. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2009.501

The quality of water is just as important as the quantity of water. Using GIS as part of a Water Safety Plan, this paper will identify whether sensitive establishments, such as assisted living facilities, schools, and hospitals, are at risk of groundwater contamination in the heavily populated region of Cologne-Bonn located by the Rhine river in Germany. The application of GIS is accomplished through the use of spatial analysis techniques, such as clipping, merging, and reclassification. A spatial interpolation technique was also used to estimate variables dispersed in areas that are not sampled by comparing values created at frequently dispersed and infrequently dispersed locations around the study area. The results of this study concluded that there were about 12 sensitive establishments every square kilometer around the river basin in the Cologne-Bonn area. It was also found that surrounding agricultural sites were also exposed to contaminated groundwater. These levels varied between low, moderate to high, and high. Groundwater contamination was reported to be high risk in 24% of these areas, moderate in 58% of these areas, and low in 18% of these areas.


Youssef, Ibrahem, S. M. M., El Sayed, A. N., & Masoud, M. H. Z. (2020). Assessment and management of water resources in Wadi El-Deeb using geophysical, hydrological and GIS techniques-Red Sea. Journal of African Earth Sciences (1994), 164, 103777–. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2020.103777

To manage water resources effectively, it has become essential to simulate excessive rainfall on land to determine flood risks and drought risks. The amount of precipitation and drainage of water into the soil is important to surveying areas that flood. Over the last few decades, precipitation levels have decreased significantly. If humans want to sustain water levels, alternative plans need to be made. Within this paper, the main water channel and deltas along Wadi El-Deeb which lies between Egypt and Sudan was studied to determine an alternative to decreasing precipitation levels. A basin like Wadi El-Deeb receives very little rainfall each year, which has a big impact on communities in this region that rely on surface water to supply their water needs. To maintain this water, there are only five handmade wells in this region, three of them reach the Quaternary aquifer, and the other two reach to the broken basement aquifer. Observations on these five wells can determine the most optimal spots to drill new wells in order to sustain water supply. To accomplish this, GIS tools and topographic patterns were used and combined to assess risks associated with flooding in dry basins. As a result, it was found that flash flooding was a threat to Wadi El-Deeb and varied among smaller basins within this region. To mitigate this, it was found that dams should be built in two of the smaller basins in particular as they are at higher risk for flooding. The results of this study can be used to identify dry regions that are prone to flash flooding and to determine how to mitigate floods and maintain water supplies in those areas.