The Impending Doom: Saltwater Intrusion

The Atlantic Coast of the United States is home to many people, popular tourist attractions, and much more. Over 112.6 million people live here. That is roughly 35% of the United State's population. However, the Eastern Seaboard of the United States is home to many underground aquifers that supply fresh water to the people living in this area.

Aquifers are underground layers of rock that contain fresh water. Just think an enormous water tank underneath massive cities like New York City, D.C., and Miami. Of course, with the increase of population comes comes an increase of water consumption from these aquifers. If so much water is pumped out of these aquifers, they can run dry and no water could be removed until it is replenish. This replenishing process can take quite some time, hundreds or even thousands of years.

Source: https://water.usgs.gov/ogw/gwrp/saltwater/salt.html#fig2

Something worse could happen to the aquifers and that is saltwater intrusion. Saltwater intrusion is the process of salt water moving into the fresh water of the aquifers. Once the saltwater intrudes into these fresh water supplies, then that aquifer is unusable, leaving everyone that depends on them without a source of easily accessible fresh water.

Source: http://www.miamiandbeaches.com/places-to-see/downtown-miami

One of the most vulnerable aquifers that is facing this impending doom is the Biscayne Aquifer in South Florida. This aquifer provides water to 5.8 million residents in South Florida and the Florida Keys. Just imagine if saltwater were to intrude into this aquifer the disaster that would take place in this area. As sea level continues to rise, this problem will continue to get worse.

Luckily, there is a plan in place to prevent this disaster from happening. It is a costly plan, $4.1 billion. The plan includes replacing a 100-year-old reverse osmosis plant in the city of Hialeah, building another osmosis plant in the southern part of the county and shutting down five small well fields. The Department of Miami-Dade County Sewer and Water Mobility hope to use the osmosis plants to be able to draw water from the Floridan Aquifer that lies 3,000 feet underneath area, but filled with brackish water. 

We are always worried about the water shortages in other countries. We fail to realize that major areas in the U.S. are on the verge of having a major water crisis.