Perceiving the spatiotemporal relationship of land use changes and groundwater resources is crucial for the effective and sustainable management of the plains. This study aims to investigate the relationship between land use changes and groundwater depth fluctuations in the forbidden plains of northern Hamedan. In the present study, the land use maps for 1989, 1997, 2005, 2013 and 2018 were extracted and categorized from Landsat satellite images and then evaluated for accuracy. In addition, groundwater depth distribution maps were prepared by kriging method for five years from piezometric data. The correlation and relationship between land use changes and groundwater depth fluctuations were determined by REGRESS methods. The findings from kriging method indicated that the intensity of groundwater decline during the last three periods of study (2005, 2013 and 2018) becomes more severe in the study area. Land use change trends indicate a sharp decline in the orchards, pasture lands, barren lands and a relative decline in the irrigated agricultural land, and consequently, increasing in non-irrigation and residential farmland. In addition, the average annual depth of groundwater level during the past 29 years decreased to 1.57 m and 0.87 m in the Kabudrahang and Razan Plains, respectively. The r value of REGRESS method during five study periods was the minimum 0.015 and maximum 0.15 in the Kabudrahang Plain and minimum 0.06 and maximum 0.15 in the Razan Plain, respectively. The results of the study indicated that climate changes cannot be considered as the reason for declining the groundwater in the study area. However, along with the relative impacts of land use changes, the role of managerial factors, the prominent example of which is the non-expert location of the Shahid Mofatteh Hydroelectric Power Station, which supplies underground water to cool the generators, should be considered. The present study can be effective in the management, planning, and policy of groundwater resources, land use location, and spatial planning in the areas facing severe water shortages, especially in the northern plains of Hamedan because this study indicates the importance of underground water in arid and semi-arid regions.
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