In most arid and semiarid environments, groundwater is one of the precious resources threatened by water table decline and desiccation, thus it must be constantly monitored. Identifying the causes in uencing the variations of the subsurface water level, such as meteorological drought, is one approach for monitoring these uctuations. In the present study, the effect of two meteorological drought indices SPI and SPEI on the uctuations of the underground water level was evaluated, as was their relationship with the drought index of the subsurface water level (SWI) using multivariate linear regression and M5 decision tree regression. After calculating climatic and hydrological drought indicators in a 6-month time window for a long-term statistical period , the semi-deep aquifers of Golestan province, which is located in northern Iran, were considered as a research location for this purpose. The results demonstrated that the effect of meteorological drought does not immeddergiately manifest in the changes of the subsurface water table and the hydrological drought index. By adding the meteorological drought index with a 6-month lag step, the average air temperature, and the total rainfall from the previous 6 months as new variables, the correlation with the SWI index increases, so that in the best-case scenario, the M5 decision tree model provides the best result in predicting the SWI index. The second half of the year yielded a coe cient of determination of 0.92 and an error value of RMSE = 0.27 for the SPEI index. Among the meteorological drought indicators, the SPEI index, which is based on precipitation and evapotranspiration, created a stronger link with the SWI index, which highlights the signi cance of potential evapotranspiration. It is a warning that, as a result of global warming, subsurface water tables in this region may fall in the future.