Development and Assessment of a Hybrid Index for Groundwater Drought, Case Study: Zayandehrood River Basin, Iran

Doctorsafaei, Hamid; Safavi, Hamid Reza; Asghari, Kayvan

doi:10.22093/wwj.2026.595906.3572

Development and Assessment of a Hybrid Index for Groundwater Drought, Case Study: Zayandehrood River Basin, Iran

مقالات آماده انتشار

نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

Hamid Doctorsafaei ¹

Hamid Reza Safavi ²

Kayvan Asghari ³

¹ MSc. Graduated, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

² Prof., Dept. of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

³ Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

10.22093/wwj.2026.595906.3572

چکیده

Drought is one of the most complex and damaging natural hazards, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where increasing dependence on groundwater has intensified pressure on already vulnerable water resources. Groundwater drought develops differently from meteorological and surface-water drought and may persist for longer periods due to the delayed response of groundwater systems to climatic variability. Therefore, comprehensive assessment of groundwater drought requires consideration of multiple hydrogeological, climatic, environmental, and anthropogenic factors. This study develops a Hybrid Groundwater Drought Index for the spatial and temporal assessment of groundwater drought vulnerability in the Zayandehrood River Basin, central Iran. A 21-year dataset covering the period 2000–2020 was analyzed using a Geographic Information System. The proposed index integrates ten static and dynamic indicators, including land use, surface, saturated and unsaturated soil layers, hydraulic conductivity, groundwater level, precipitation penetration, electrical conductivity, saturated-layer thickness, and reservoir releases. Each indicator was classified according to its vulnerability to groundwater drought and assigned a rating from 0 to 10. Greater weights were assigned to precipitation penetration and saturated-layer thickness because of their critical roles in groundwater recharge and storage. The resulting spatial layers were integrated in GIS to produce annual groundwater drought maps and define drought triggers. Results indicated that the Zayandehrood River Basin experienced 15 dry years, 2 normal years, and 4 wet years during the study period. The year 2000 was identified as the wettest year, whereas 2020 represented one of the most severe drought conditions, with very extreme drought occurring in the eastern and western parts of the basin and extreme drought in the central and southern areas. Comparison with the Groundwater Resource Index demonstrated that HGDI provides a more comprehensive representation of drought severity and spatial variability because it incorporates multiple groundwater-related and external controlling factors rather than relying primarily on groundwater storage changes. The proposed HGDI can therefore serve as an effective tool for groundwater drought monitoring, early warning, vulnerability assessment, and sustainable groundwater management in drought-prone regions.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Groundwater Drought

Hybrid Index

Static Indicators

Dynamic Indicators

Zayandehrood Basin

موضوعات

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