Temporal changes in the groundwater level in the Upper Tigris Basin, Turkey, determined by a GIS technique

• In agricultural area groundwater level dropped dramatically.
• I determined city center population have effect groundwater level negatively.
• I determined that near dam’s area groundwater level stable.

Groundwater is an important water source widely used for agricultural, domestic, and industrial activities in the world. Increase in population, immoderate use of groundwater in agriculture, and irregular rainfall due to climate change all have a negative effect on groundwater potential. It is important to determine the groundwater potential of every basin to regularly monitor static water level changes. In this study, static water level (SWL) changes in the groundwater of the Upper Tigris Basin, which is located between the Diyarbakir Plain and northern Batman, Turkey, has been analyzed for the period 1980–2011 and modeled by using GIS techniques on the other hand, static groundwater levels identified with GIS were used at the end of each study period to determine changes in these levels. Finally, possible reasons of changes in groundwater levels were discussed.