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FIGURE 16.7 Altitude (in feet) of water level in the Savannah area in 1984. Dots are wells; arrows indicate general direction of
groundwater flow. Parris Island is north across Port Royal Sound from Hilton Head Island.
(Modified from Smith, 1988)
8. a. What techniques might be used to halt or slow saltwa-
ter intrusion into the area of Hilton Head Island? (Consider
engineering and management techniques [Figure 16.4] to
stop the advance of the brackish water in the aquifer
beneath the sound and the island).
Floridan Aquifer System of the southeastern coastal region
has produced cones of depression in SE Georgia and neigh-
boring South Carolina. The decline in artesian pressure in
this porous limestone/dolostone aquifer has resulted in
saltwater intrusion in the coastal areas. Some of the intru-
sion is lateral from the ocean or downward from eroded
river channels (as near Hilton Head, SC) or upward
through fractured limestone units in the Lower Floridan
Aquifer as at Brunswick, Georgia. Georgia recognized that
the rate of decline in the water pressure surface (water
table) and the increasing salinity posed a threat to sustain-
able water resources in the region. A 1997 report described
the conditions and trends in the Floridan Aquifer, a pri-
mary water supply source for many in the region. An
interim strategy (1997-2005) was developed to reduce fur-
ther overdraft of the aquifer, pending the Sound Science
Report (released in 2005).
b. Explain Figure 16.4E or one other provided by your
instructor.
Read the following information and then answer
Questions 9 and 10 below. Groundwater overdraft in the
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