Saltwater has intruded into many of the coastal aquifers of the United States, Mexico, and Canada, but the extent of saltwater intrusion varies widely among localities and hydrogeologic settings. In many instances, the area contaminated by saltwater is limited to small parts of an aquifer and to specific wells and has had little or no effect on overall groundwater supplies; in other instances, saltwater contamination is of regional extent and has resulted in the closure of many groundwater supply wells. The variability of hydrogeologic settings, three-dimensional distribution of saline water, and history of groundwater withdrawals and freshwater drainage has resulted in a variety of modes of saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers. These include lateral intrusion from the ocean; upward intrusion from deeper, more saline zones of a groundwater system; and downward intrusion from coastal waters. Saltwater contamination also has occurred along open boreholes and within abandoned, improperly constructed, or corroded wells that provide pathways for vertical migration across interconnected aquifers. Communities within the coastal regions of North America are taking actions to manage and prevent saltwater intrusion to ensure a sustainable source of groundwater for the future. These actions can be grouped broadly into scientific monitoring and assessment, engineering techniques, and regulatory approaches.

Saltwater intrusion in coastal regions of North America

Fresh ground water is widely distributed in subsurface sediments below the coastal bays of the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia). These conditions were revealed by nearly 300 km of streamer resistivity surveys, utilizing a towed multichannel cable system. Zones of high resistivity displayed by inversion modeling were confirmed by vibradrilling investigations to correspond to fresh ground water occurrences. Fresh water lenses extended from a few hundred meters up to 2 km from shore. Along the western margins of coastal bays in areas associated with fine-grained surficial sediments, high-resistivity layers were widespread and were especially pronounced near tidal creeks. Fresh ground water layers were less common along the eastern barrier-bar margins of the bays, where sediments were typically sandy. Mid-bay areas in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland, did not show evidence of fresh water. Indian River Bay, Delaware, showed complex subsurface salinity relationships, including an area with possible hypersaline brines. The new streamer resistivity system paired with vibradrilling in these investigations provides a powerful approach to recovering information required for extension of hydrologic modeling of shallow coastal aquifer systems into offshore areas.

Studying Ground Water Under Delmarva Coastal Bays Using Electrical Resistivity

Electrical resistivity imaging has been used in coastal settings to characterize fresh submarine groundwater discharge and the position of the freshwater/salt-water interface because of the relation of bulk electrical conductivity to pore-fluid conductivity, which in turn is a function of salinity. Interpretation of tomograms for hydrologic processes is complicated by inversion artifacts, uncertainty associated with survey geometry limitations, measurement errors, and choice of regularization method. Variation of seawater over tidal cycles poses unique challenges for inversion. The capabilities and limitations of resistivity imaging are presented for characterizing the distribution of freshwater and saltwater beneath a beach. The experimental results provide new insight into fresh submarine groundwater discharge at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, East Falmouth, Massachusetts (USA). Tomograms from the experimental data indicate that fresh submarine groundwater discharge may shut down at high tide, whereas temperature data indicate that the discharge continues throughout the tidal cycle. Sensitivity analysis and synthetic modeling provide insight into resolving power in the presence of a time-varying saline water layer. In general, vertical electrodes and cross-hole measurements improve the inversion results regardless of the tidal level, whereas the resolution of surface arrays is more sensitive to time-varying saline water layer.

Marine electrical resistivity imaging of submarine groundwater discharge: sensitivity analysis and application in Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts, USA

Seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers can increase groundwater salinity beyond potable levels, endangering access to freshwater for millions of people Seawater intrusion is particularly likely where water tables lie below sea level, but can also arise from groundwater pumping in some coastal aquifers with water tables above sea level Nevertheless, no nation-wide, observation-based assessment of the scope of potential seawater intrusion exists Here we compile and analyze ~250,000 coastal groundwater-level observations made since the year 2000 in the contiguous United States We show that the majority of observed groundwater levels lie below sea level along more than 15% of the contiguous coastline We conclude that landward hydraulic gradients characterize a substantial fraction of the East Coast (>18%) and Gulf Coast (>17%), and also parts of the West Coast where groundwater pumping is high Sea level rise, coastal land subsidence, and increasing water demands will exacerbate the threat of seawater intrusion

/pdf/groundwater-level-observations-in-250-000-coastal-us-wells-3v5o5krujb.pdf

Groundwater level observations in 250,000 coastal US wells reveal scope of potential seawater intrusion.

Shallow stratigraphic features, such as infilled paleovalleys, modify fresh groundwater discharge to coastal waters and fluxes of saltwater and nutrients across the sediment–water interface. We quantify the spatial distribution of shallow surface water–groundwater exchange and nitrogen fluxes near a paleovalley in Indian River Bay, Delaware, using a hand resistivity probe, conventional seepage meters, and pore-water samples. In the interfluve (region outside the paleovalley) most nitrate-rich fresh groundwater discharges rapidly near the coast with little mixing of saline pore water, and nitrogen transport is largely conservative. In the peat-filled paleovalley, fresh groundwater discharge is negligible, and saltwater exchange is deep (,1 m). Long pore-water residence times and abundant sulfate and organic matter promote sulfate reduction and ammonium production in shallow sediment. Reducing, iron-rich fresh groundwater beneath paleovalley peat discharges diffusely around paleovalley margins offshore. In this zone of diffuse fresh groundwater discharge, saltwater exchange and dispersion are enhanced, ammonium is produced in shallow sediments, and fluxes of ammonium to surface water are large. By modifying patterns of groundwater discharge and the nature of saltwater exchange in shallow sediments, paleovalleys and other stratigraphic features influence the geochemistry of discharging groundwater. Redox reactions near the sediment–water interface affect rates and patterns of geochemical fluxes to coastal surface waters. For example, at this site, more than 99% of the groundwater-borne nitrate flux to the Delaware Inland Bays occurs within the interfluve portion of the coastline, and more than 50% of the ammonium flux occurs at the paleovalley margin.

https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.2014.59.3.0997

Stratigraphic controls on fluid and solute fluxes across the sediment—water interface of an estuary

......................................................................................................................................................

Hydrogeologic framework, availability of water supplies, and saltwater intrusion, Cape May County, New Jersey

Investigations of the transport and fate of contaminants in fractured-rock aquifers require knowledge of aquifer hydraulic and transport characteristics to improve prediction of the rate and direction of movement of contaminated ground water. This report describes an approach to estimating hydraulic and transport properties in fractured-rock aquifers; demonstrates the approach at a sedimentary fractured-rock site in the Newark Basin, N.J.; and provides values for hydraulic and transport properties at the site. The approach has three components: (1) characterization of the hydrogeologic framework of ground-water flow within the rock-fracture network, (2) estimation of the distribution of hydraulic properties (hydraulic conductivity and storage coefficient) within that framework, and (3) estimation of transport properties (effective porosity and dispersivity). The approach includes alternatives with increasingly complex data-collection and analysis techniques.

Glen B. Carleton

Papers

Hydrogeologic framework, availability of water supplies, and saltwater intrusion, Cape May County, New Jersey

Design and analysis of tracer tests to determine effective porosity and dispersivity in fractured sedimentary rocks, Newark Basin, New Jersey