Integrating Groundwater Quality Parameters and Climatic Extremes for Irrigation Suitability: A District‐Level Diagnostic Framework for Telangana, India

ABSTRACT This study integrates groundwater chemistry and climatic stressors to evaluate irrigation suitability across 33 districts of Telangana, India. Groundwater monitoring data (2018–2020) were combined with rainfall and temperature datasets from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Key indices included sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), total dissolved solids (TDS), the composite irrigation suitability index (CISI+) and the climate extremes index (CEI). Most districts were safe under RSC, with only three marginal cases. Sodicity emerged as the dominant hazard: SAR correlated almost perfectly with CISI+ ( r = 0.97), while TDS showed strong associations ( r = 0.72). Rainfall deficits were linked to higher maximum temperatures ( r = −0.44) and CEI values ( r = −0.32), highlighting drought‐prone districts as more vulnerable. CEI values were generally low, but Jogulamba Gadwal, Nagarkurnool and Sangareddy recorded localised extremes. Random forest achieved perfect classification (accuracy, precision, recall, F1 = 1.0), outperforming gradient boosting, support vector machine and multilayer perceptron. SHAP analysis identified Jogulamba Gadwal, Nalgonda and Rajanna Sircilla as sodicity hotspots, while rainfall contributions were minimal. Practical implications include district‐specific adaptation strategies such as gypsum application, groundwater blending, salt‐tolerant crops, rainwater harvesting and recharge conservation. These measures are essential to safeguard irrigation resilience under evolving climate pressures.