123
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. J. Culver (ed.), Troubled Waters, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52383-1_8
Chapter 8
A Tale of Two Hydrogeology Problems
in Coastal North Carolina
Alex K. Manda
Abstract This chapter highlights two tales describing the techniques scientists use
to investigate how groundwater and surface water in coastal regions are threatened
by saltwater intrusion. Crop production and water supply to communities are being
increasingly affected. In the first tale, researchers document how they use computer
models to determine the mechanisms by which saltwater intrusion is happening
beneath a barrier island in North Carolina, USA, that is popular with tourists. The
second tale, also from North Carolina, details the extent to which scientists will go
to understand saltwater intrusion occurring in natural and artificial channels that
traverse low-lying coastal regions.
Keywords Saltwater intrusion · Groundwater · Sea-level rise · North Carolina ·
Barrier islands · Wind tides · Water quality · Water quantity · Salinity · Monitoring
A Threat to Coastal Living
Saltwater intrusion is the process by which saline water replaces freshwater in groundwater and surface water bodies. This process may pose severe consequences for (a)
potable water supplies in regions that rely on local reservoirs for freshwater supplies,
and (b) the diversity and vitality of flora and fauna found in coastal freshwater systems.
There are several natural and anthropogenic mechanisms by which saltwater intrusion
occurs in the environment. To understand how saltwater intrusion occurs, it is first useful to appreciate how groundwater and surface water interact in coastal regions.
In coastal aquifers, the interface between groundwater and surface water is not a
vertical straight line. Rather, saline water juts underneath freshwater forming a
A. K. Manda (*)
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
e-mail: mandaa@ecu.edu
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. J. Culver (ed.), Troubled Waters, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52383-1_8
Chapter 8
A Tale of Two Hydrogeology Problems
in Coastal North Carolina
Alex K. Manda
Abstract This chapter highlights two tales describing the techniques scientists use
to investigate how groundwater and surface water in coastal regions are threatened
by saltwater intrusion. Crop production and water supply to communities are being
increasingly affected. In the first tale, researchers document how they use computer
models to determine the mechanisms by which saltwater intrusion is happening
beneath a barrier island in North Carolina, USA, that is popular with tourists. The
second tale, also from North Carolina, details the extent to which scientists will go
to understand saltwater intrusion occurring in natural and artificial channels that
traverse low-lying coastal regions.
Keywords Saltwater intrusion · Groundwater · Sea-level rise · North Carolina ·
Barrier islands · Wind tides · Water quality · Water quantity · Salinity · Monitoring
A Threat to Coastal Living
Saltwater intrusion is the process by which saline water replaces freshwater in groundwater and surface water bodies. This process may pose severe consequences for (a)
potable water supplies in regions that rely on local reservoirs for freshwater supplies,
and (b) the diversity and vitality of flora and fauna found in coastal freshwater systems.
There are several natural and anthropogenic mechanisms by which saltwater intrusion
occurs in the environment. To understand how saltwater intrusion occurs, it is first useful to appreciate how groundwater and surface water interact in coastal regions.
In coastal aquifers, the interface between groundwater and surface water is not a
vertical straight line. Rather, saline water juts underneath freshwater forming a
A. K. Manda (*)
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
e-mail: mandaa@ecu.edu