Application of GIS based multi-criteria analysis in site selection of water reservoirs (case study: Batu Pahat, Malaysia)

Abstract

Malaysia is well endowed with abundance of natural water resources, which has significantly contributed to the socio-economic development of the country. However, the situation has somewhat changed over the last decade. The aim of this study is to apply GIS in identifying the most suitable location for water reservoir for area of Batu Pahat, Johor in Malaysia. The main criteria selected for this study are pipe line, elevation, rive, Land use, road network, water supply network and slope. Methodology is designed in such a way to achieve the objectives of this study as to identify the important criteria for locating water reservoir, to model the location of reservoir using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Weighted Overlay (WO) methods. Based on the criteria chosen, the data are processed and analyzed the existing 52 reservoir locations and their capacities. Based on the projected number of population for the year 2050, as a result, 5 new reservoir locations have been identified to fulfill the future demands of water for the study area. Thus, it can be concluded that the weights derived from AHP integrated in Arc GIS can be a useful tool in GIS analysis for the determination of suitable locations for water reservoir in the study area.