Water Resources of the Caribbean
Caribbean Water Science Center Science Plan 1999Water Resources in Coastal Areas The most important aquifers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are in coastal areas. These aquifers have been negatively impacted since the early part of this century by large scale agricultural land reclamation and malaria control projects through construction of drainage and dewatering works. This has led to widespread saline-water encroachment from the coast and thinning of the freshwater lens. Within the past 30 years, this problem have been exacerbated by aquifer overdraft and increased withdrawals of water from streams which has altered the hydrodynamic equilibrium of the saline-water wedge. Monitoring the location of the saline-freshwater interface with wells and both surface and borehole geophysics has begun. Consequently, the location of the interface has been established in many areas, but its rate of movement cannot be known without long-term monitoring. However, only few synoptic surveys have been conducted to relate stream discharge with the location of the saline-water wedge at estuaries. Throughout the south coast changes in irrigation practices from furrow irrigation with surface water to micro-irrigation with ground water is seriously depleting the South Coastal Plain aquifer system in Puerto Rico, an important agriculture resource. Sustainable development of this aquifer will require artificial recharge measures to prevent further saline intrusion into the aquifer. Information Needs and Deficiencies
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