Project Information
Project Scope:
South Florida faces the constant problem of trying to find a balance between the water needs of its natural ecosystem, its population, and its industries and agriculture. Urban and agricultural expansion cause an ever growing need for water while at the same time put a strain on the existing fresh water supply by draining wetland areas for uses in land applications and facilitating saltwater intrusion into the aquifer system through municipal pumping. In response to increasing water and land demands, the municipal wellfields of Miami-Dade County have progressively moved further west toward the Everglades. In lieu of further expansion of the wellfields, concerns have arisen relating to the effect that this expansion would have on Everglades hydrology. At this time, the relationship between Everglades flow and the municipal wells is poorly understood.
The goals of this project are to determine whether Everglades water is being drawn into the municipal pumping wells of the West Wellfield, to assess whether rock-mining lakes in the area have an effect on site hydrology, to determine if significant seepage under L-31N is occurring and to evaluate the extent to which the L-31N canal acts as a hydrologic boundary between Everglades and urban water. These goals will be accomplished through a hydrologic study using stable isotopes of oxygen-18 and deuterium as tracers as well as through computer modeling using MODBRANCH..
This Project has received funding from Everglades National Park, the South Florida Water Management District, the United States Geological Survey, and Kendall Properties and Investments Inc.