Citation: Upadhyay, R.K.; Tripathi, G.; Ðurin, B.; Šamanovi´ c, S.; Cetl, V.; Kishore, N.; Sharma, M.; Singh, S.K.; Kanga, S.; Wasim, M.; et al. Groundwater Potential Zone Mapping in the Ghaggar River Basin, North-West India, Using Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques. Water 2023, 15, 961. https:// doi.org/10.3390/w15050961 Academic Editors: Aldo Fiori and Akira Kawamura Received: 22 December 2022 Revised: 25 February 2023 Accepted: 25 February 2023 Published: 2 March 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). water Article Groundwater Potential Zone Mapping in the Ghaggar River Basin, North-West India, Using Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques Ritambhara K. Upadhyay 1 , Gaurav Tripathi 2 , Bojan Ðurin 3, * , Sanja Šamanovi´ c 4 , Vlado Cetl 4 , Naval Kishore 1 , Mukta Sharma 5 , Suraj Kumar Singh 2, * , Shruti Kanga 6 , Md Wasim 7 , Praveen Kumar Rai 8 and Vinay Bhardwaj 9 1 Department of Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, Punjab, India 2 Centre for Climate Change and Water Research, Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur 302017, Rajasthan, India 3 Department of Civil Engineering, University North, Varaždin 42000, Croatia 4 Department of Geodesy and Geomatics, University North, Varaždin 42000, Croatia 5 School of Built Environment, IKGPTU, Jalandhar 144603, Punjab, India 6 Department of Geography, School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bhatinda 151401, Punjab Pradesh, India 7 Department of Civil Engineering, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida 201314, Uttar Pradesh, India 8 Department of Geography, K.M.C. Language University, Lucknow 226013, Uttar Pradesh, India 9 Groundwater Department, Government of Rajasthan, Jaipur 302004, Rajasthan, India * Correspondence: bojan.durin@unin.hr (B.Ð.); suraj.kumar@mygyanvihar.com (S.K.S.) Abstract: The immense dependence of the growing population on groundwater has resulted in depletion at a fast pace can be seen nowadays. Identifying a groundwater potential zone can be proved as an aid to provide insight to the decision-makers and local authorities for planning purposes. This study evaluated the delineation of groundwater potential zones using integrated remote sensing and GIS approach. Various thematic layers such as geology, geomorphology, lineament, slope, drainage, soil, land use/land cover, and rainfall were considered in this study as these have influence on the occurrence of groundwater and its cycle, and maps have been prepared in GIS domain. Afterward, appropriate weights were assigned to these layers based on multi-criteria decision analysis, i.e., Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Groundwater potentiality has been delineated in different zones (low, moderate, high, and very high) in the study region based on weighted overlay analysis. The study reveals zones with different groundwater prospects viz. low (1.27%), moderate (15.65%), high (75.54%), and very high (7.29%). The ground survey data provided by CGWB (Central Ground Water Board) of nearly 100 wells/dug wells/borewells/piezometers have been used for validation purposes, showing comparable results with the groundwater prospects zones. It also confirms that the majority of these wells fall under very high or high groundwater potential zones. They were also found to be thereby indicating that there is the existence of a permeable reservoir with considerable water storage in the subsurface. One of the most important issues for users and governments is groundwater depletion. Planning for the available groundwater resource is made easier by identifying the potential for groundwater (low to high). Keywords: groundwater potential; GIS; remote sensing; analytic hierarchy process; overlay analysis 1. Introduction Groundwater is one of the significant natural resources that are vital for life and ecological diversity, especially in regions that are devoid of major surfaces of water bodies in the vicinity. The importance of groundwater can be well imagined from the fact that approximately one-third of the world’s population is dependent on it for drinking, irriga- tion, and domestic and industrial purposes [1,2]. In fact, it has been estimated that nearly 80% of the rural population and approximately 50% of the urban regions use groundwater Water 2023, 15, 961. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15050961 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/water