In this study, the temporal and spatial variations of groundwater drought using a Standardized Groundwater Level Index (SGI) were analyzed based on 40 monthly groundwater level observation wells from 1989 to 2012 in Jiangsu Province, China. Meteorological drought, calculated by the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), was also included to reveal its propagation and impact on the groundwater drought process. Results showed that the southern region of Jiangsu faced more frequent groundwater droughts and lower intensity, while the northern region faced less frequent groundwater drought with higher intensity. Furthermore, the cross-correlation between the spatial average of SGI and SPI for SPI accumulation periods of q = 1 to 12 was computed. The relationship between SGI and SPI varied in different regions. Detailed analysis of the characteristics of groundwater and meteorological drought for each region showed that meteorological droughts happened more frequently than groundwater drought in Jiangsu Province during the study period, while the mean duration and mean magnitude of groundwater droughts were longer and larger than those of meteorological droughts. It is expected that this study will provide useful information for drought monitoring and mitigation in Jiangsu and similar areas.

Groundwater management in the Jinan Spring basin is hampered by its complex topography, overexploitation, and excessive urbanisation. This has led to springs drying up during dry seasons and a decrease in discharge in recent years. GIS and the AHP were employed to delineate groundwater potential zones using eight thematic layers: slope, geology, lineament density, topographic wetness index (TWI), rainfall, soil, drainage density, and land use/land cover (LULC). The model’s accuracy was assessed by comparing the findings to basin groundwater observation well data. We found that 74% of the observations matched the projected zoning. Further validation utilising the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve gave an AUC of 0.736. According to the study, 67.31% of the land has a good GWPZ, 5.60% has a very good one, 27.07% is medium, and 0.03% is low. Heavy rains throughout the rainy season raise water levels. Dry weather lowers water levels. This study’s conclusions will protect groundwater from climate change. Integrating hydrogeological data, GIS, remote sensing, and AHP approaches maximises data use, improves groundwater potential zone delineation, and promotes sustainable groundwater resource management decision making. This integrated method can help land use planners, hydrologists, and policymakers find optimal locations for water supply projects, establish groundwater management techniques, and reduce groundwater risks.