Aquifer Recharge and Reclaimed Water – A New Vision for Managing your Valuable Resources

In response to growing demands from public supply, agriculture, mining, power generation and recreational uses, groundwater withdrawals within the central-southwest Florida region have steadily increased over the last 50-years. As a result, the Upper Floridan aquifer has exhibited declining groundwater levels throughout the state. Although the groundwater withdrawals have somewhat stabilized as a result of management efforts, the historical groundwater pumping along with a prolonged drought has also caused additional saltwater intrusion effects along the coastal areas of Florida. The declining groundwater levels and salt water intrusion are threatening the water supply sustainability of the area and are limiting future development of groundwater in this area.Beneficial coastal aquifer recharge mitigation of these impacted water levels would allow for additional groundwater to be developed further inland. Aquifer recharge with reclaimed water quality may be a viable permittable solution to mitigate declining water levels and help meet the additional water resource needs in the project area.