ABSTRACT
Lack of groundwater potential mapping makes issues worse in areas where water scarcity is already a problem. Groundwater potential mapping provides valuable insights into the availability and sustainability of groundwater resources. Without this information, it becomes challenging to plan and develop water supply systems effectively. This study aims to present a method of determining the groundwater Potential zones for a catchment area in Benin city using the multi-criteria decision analysis approach, particularly the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and GIS. Eight groundwater conditioning parameters have been chosen to be factors which are directly related to groundwater, these are: soil, geology, land use/ land cover, drainage density, slope, flow direction, elevation and lineament density. These factors were presented as raster datasets. These factors were ranked based on their potential contribution to groundwater occurrence and given factor weights according to the AHP technique, the combination of these groundwater conditioning factors with their corresponding weights in the ArcGIS software resulted in the groundwater potential map. From the groundwater potential map, it was observed that the lowest share was recorded in the very high (0.63%) class and some of the specific places in our study area that corresponds to very high class are areas close to Dominion Prayer ministry, Enehizena street and grace paint. The high groundwater potential class covers an area of 21.16% which includes places like Genesis Luxury Nightlife, Oluku community area, lawson, grace paints, Oluku market, iguosa housing estate and Lighthouse Guest House, while the low groundwater potential class recorded the share of 7.62 % and is inclusive of places like seven up Bottling company, Astles Ng Farmgate. The highest share (70.59 %) can be seen in the moderate groundwater potential class and includes places like HOD Radio, apostle prince ikharebhore ministries, Delano homes and apartment, Benin-city bypass, terminal resort & park and Total Energies Oluku. In summary, groundwater potential mapping is a valuable tool for sustainable development, water security, and environmental protection.
