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Keeping Freshwater Fresh
A state panel is exploring ways to adapt to saltwater intrusion in wetlands, farms, and groundwater
Maryland regulators and scientists are working on a plan to respond to saltwater intrusion in the state’s aquifers, surface waters, farmland, wetlands, coastal forests, and infrastructure.
The Maryland General Assembly requested the plan last year, when it asked the Maryland Department of Planning to establish a strategy for adapting to saltwater intrusion in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment, and Department of Natural Resources.
Regulators worry that saltwater will enter coastal aquifers, requiring those who get their water from wells to dig deeper ones. The more water that is withdrawn, the more likely that saltwater intrusion could occur. Though the state has a regulation prohibiting withdrawals from areas where saltwater can intrude, regulators need updated maps and real-time information to pinpoint where those areas are.
The State Agency Saltwater Intrusion Workgroup includes scientists from Maryland Sea Grant, Maryland Department of the Environment, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Maryland Geological Survey, and University of Maryland Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology on the Eastern Shore. The plan maps the areas at risk for inundation and possible saltwater intrusion, which include much of Dorchester and Somerset counties but also parts of Worcester County and slivers of southern Maryland. It divides the preparation tasks into near-term ones, such as developing study plans and addressing aquifer vulnerabilities, to longer-term ones, such as developing forecast models. These models can identify possible future changes in the risk of saltwater intrusion into the state’s drinking water aquifer supplies, giving regulators time to plan.
“Maryland seems to be lucky in that we don’t appear to have many issues with saltwater intrusion in our drinking water—in part because we have a variety of aquifers. The more immediate threat is to coastal farmland, wetlands, and forests,” said workgroup coordinator Jason Dubow, Maryland Department of Planning’s manager for resource conservation. “But we need to remain vigilant. We know there’s a big ecological change happening in Maryland. . . . It’s not going to be stopped; it’s just a matter of how much we are expecting.”
The plan is available on the Maryland Department of Planning’s website.
Header image: On the Eastern Shore, some farm fields are becoming brown patches where many crops can’t grow. Saltwater intrusion is often the culprit. Photo, Edwin Remsberg