St. Bacchus, Uncalculated impacts of unsustainable aquifer yield including evidence of subsurface interbasin flow, J AM WAT RE, 36(3), 2000, pp. 457-481
Citations number
102
Categorie Soggetti
Environment/Ecology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION
Unsustainable withdrawals from regional aquifers have resulted in adverse i
mpacts considerable distances from the point locations of supply wells. In
one area of the southeastern (SE) Coastal Plain, conservative estimates for
repair/replacement of some residential wells damaged or destroyed by unsus
tainable yield from the Floridan aquifer system exceeded $4 million. Howeve
r, a comprehensive assessment of damage/economic loss to private property a
nd public resources due to unsustainable yield from that regional karat aqu
ifer has not been made. Uncalculated direct costs to home-owners from damag
e attributed to those withdrawals are associated with destruction of homes
from increased sinkhole formation, devalued waterfront property, and remova
l of diseased and dead trees. Examples of other uncalculated economic burde
ns resulting from unsustainable aquifer yield in the SE Coastal Plain inclu
de: (1) irreversible damage to the aquifer matrix and concomitant increased
potential for groundwater contamination, (2) large-scale wildfires with su
bsequent degradation of air quality, debilitation of transportation corrido
rs, and destruction of timber, wildlife habitat and property, and (3) destr
uction of "protected" natural areas. This paper provides a general backgrou
nd of the regional Floridan aquifer system's karst characteristics, example
s of known impacts resulting from ground water mining in the SE Coastal Pla
in, and examples of additional damage that may be related to unsustainable
yield from the Upper Floridan aquifer. Costs of these impacts have not been
calculated and are not reflected in the price users pay for ground water.
Evidence suggests that the classic watershed management approach must be re
vised in areas with mined regional karst aquifers to include impacts of ind
uced recharge from the surficial aquifer, and subsurface interbasin flow. L
ikewise, associated impacts to surface water and interrelated systems must
be calculated The true cost of groundwater mining to this and future genera
tions should be determined using a multidisciplinary approach.