Integrated GIS, VES, and Dar-Zarrouk analysis for delineating groundwater recharge and storage priority zones in Telangana, India

Abstract

Groundwater-recharge planning in semi-arid hard-rock aquifers is uncertain when site selection relies only on surface indicators. This study integrates geographic information system (GIS) analysis, vertical electrical sounding (VES), and Dar-Zarrouk parameters to screen candidate sites for recharge and surface-water storage interventions in Kangti Mandal, Telangana, India. The workflow combines a village-scale well inventory, water-level measurements, 32 Schlumberger VES soundings, thematic GIS layers, and Dar-Zarrouk indicators of aquifer protection and relative groundwater potential. The interpretation distinguishes recharge-oriented targets from compact sectors that warrant assessment for storage structures instead of presenting a single generic groundwater-potential map. Nine recharge-priority sites were identified at VES 2, 3, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, and 23, whereas six storage-priority sites were identified at VES 7, 9, 15, 16, 30, and 31. All 15 selected points retained their management class under ± 10% and ± 20% one-at-a-time perturbations of the starting weights after renormalisation; this result indicates point-level decision stability under the tested scenarios, not areal certainty or direct validation of recharge. The workflow provides field-verifiable screening targets by combining surface hydrogeomorphic evidence with subsurface geoelectrical constraints in a hard-rock watershed.