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Abstract
A variable-density groundwater ow and dispersive solute transport model was developed for the shallow
coastal aquifer system near a municipal supply well eld in southeastern Florida. The model was calibrated for
a 105-year period (1900 to 2005). An analysis with the model suggests that well-eld withdrawals were the
dominant cause of salt water intrusion near the well eld, and that historical sea-level rise, which is similar to
lower-bound projections of future sea-level rise, exacerbated the extent of salt water intrusion. Average 2005
hydrologic conditions were used for 100-year sensitivity simulations aimed at quantifying the effect of projected
rises in sea level on fresh coastal groundwater resources near the well eld. Use of average 2005 hydrologic
conditions and a constant sea level result in total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration of the well eld exceeding
drinking water standards after 70 years. When sea-level rise is included in the simulations, drinking water standards
are exceeded 10 to 21 years earlier, depending on the specied rate of sea-level rise.
Introduction reported possible increases for the 21st century that range
There is little dispute that global mean sea level has from 0.24 to 0.88 m, with a median value of about 0.48 m
been rising, and there is recent evidence to suggest that (Church et al. 2001). As part of the Fourth Assessment
the rate of rise is accelerating. Recent satellite altimetry Report (AR4) by the IPCC, Meehl et al. (2007) provide
data collected from 1993 to 2003 show an increased an estimated range of 0.18 to 0.59 m for the expected rise
rate of 3.1 0.7 mm/year (Cazenave and Nerem 2004). in sea level by the end of this century. Bates et al. (2008)
This rate is almost twice the rate observed during the provide insight into the apparent differences between the
20th century (1.7 0.5 mm/year; Bates et al. 2008), but 2001 and 2007 studies: the upper values of the ranges
owing to the relatively short period of time, it is possible (reported in Meehl et al. (2007)) are not to be considered
that part of the increased rate could be due to natural upper bounds for sea-level rise. Meehl et al. (2007) noted
variability. Predictions of future rates of sea-level rise that dynamic ice ow processes are poorly understood.
continue to improve as the science evolves, as new data For this reason, they did not include Greenland and
are collected, and as associated uncertainties are more Antarctic ice sheet losses in their projections. By including
fully addressed. In the Third Assessment Report (TAR), the effect of land ice, Pfeffer et al. (2008) suggest that
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
a 2.0 m rise in sea level by the end of the century is
1 Corresponding author: U.S. Geological Survey, 411 National
possible if variables are quickly accelerated but that a
Center, Reston, VA 20192; 703-648-4169; fax: 703-648-6693;
0.8 m rise is more plausible. Improving these projections
langevin@usgs.gov has been the subject of recent IPCC investigation on ice
2 Broward County Environmental Protection and Growth
sheet instabilities (IPCC 2010).
Management Department, 115 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Several studies have attempted to quantify and char
Lauderdale, FL 33301.
acterize, in a generic way, the effect of sea-level rise
Received January 2012, accepted September 2012.
Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is on salt water intrusion into a coastal aquifer. Using a
in the public domain in the USA. steady-state analysis with an analytical solution, Werner
doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2012.01008.x and Simmons (2009) identied the major hydrogeologic
parameterized inversion techniques to help ensure that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Secondary and smaller
the model was a reasonable representation of the physical drainage features are operated by the county and local
system. Challenges encountered with the calibration effort drainage districts. During the wet season and hurricane
are described here for others working on sea-level rise events, excess water is released in to the Atlantic Ocean
groundwater simulations. as a mechanism for providing ood protection. During the
dry season, the canal system is used to provide aquifer
recharge in coastal areas to prevent salt water intrusion
Description of Study Area into municipal well elds. The water management system
This study focuses on the Pompano Beach well is also used by the agricultural community during dry
eld in northeastern Broward County, Florida (Figure 1). periods as a source of irrigation water. East of the
The study area is dened as the active model domain easternmost control structure, canals are tidally inuenced
boundary shown in Figure 1. The climate of the area and can have salinities close to that of sea water. Tidal
and southeastern Florida in general is characterized by nger canals, which were dredged to provide waterfront
distinct wet (May through October) and dry seasons. The property with ocean access, can be seen in Figure 2 in the
extreme seasonal rainfall variability combined with the area east of the Pompano Beach well eld.
desire to reclaim large parts of the former Everglades for Prior to the extensive development that occurred
urban and agricultural uses necessitated the construction during the 20th century, northern Broward County was
of an extensive water management system throughout characterized by Everglades fresh water wetlands that
most of southeastern Florida. This water management extended from inland areas to the western side of the
system consists of a series of levees, canals, pumps, and Atlantic Coastal Ridge (Parker et al. 1955). The Hillsboro
gates, which are used to control the elevation of the water River and Cypress Creek (presently the Hillsboro Canal
table. A structure is a spillway, culvert, or weir located and the Cypress Creek Canal) owed eastward through
within a canal that can be used to control the water surface low areas in the Atlantic Coastal Ridge called the
elevation. Primary structures are controlled and operated Peat Transverse Glades (Parker et al. 1955). With land
by the South Florida Water Management District and by elevations exceeding 7 m, it is unlikely that the Atlantic
Notes: A range is reported for some properties because more than one value is reported in the literature. Kh is horizontal hydraulic conductivity; Kv is vertical
hydraulic conductivity; Sy is specic yield; L is longitudinal dispersivity; T is transverse dispersivity; n is porosity.
the ridge tends to have better groundwater quality than conditions that led to the advance and subsequent retreat
areas to the west (Tarver 1964). Five additional production of saline groundwater in the surcial aquifer system.
wells were drilled during the 1950s. By 1972, the well Rainfall variations have been suggested by Dunn (2001)
eld consisted of a total of 16 production wells (Figure 2). as one of the primary drivers for the salt water intrusion
These wells were completed in a production zone of the event that began in the mid-1970s. For the 1970 to 1981
Biscayne aquifer that extends from about 22 to 43 m period, 11 out of the 12 years had rainfall values less than
below sea level. Production well 1 was abandoned in the long-term mean, and this period corresponds to a time
the mid-1980s (Dunn 2001) because of elevated chloride of salt water intrusion.
concentrations. Groundwater withdrawals from the Pompano Beach
Using measured chloride concentrations at monitor well eld are probably a dominant cause of the salt
ing wells and an estimate of the vertical chloride con water intrusion event. From 1950 to 1980, withdrawals
centration gradient, Dunn (2001) mapped the temporal at the Pompano Beach well eld continued to increase.
evolution of the position of the 250 mg/L isochlor near By 1980, groundwater withdrawals reached 1 105
the well eld. Contours of the 250 mg/L isochlor at the m3 /d (Figure 3). Based on a simple Theis analysis
top of the production zone (about 22 m below sea level) of predicted drawdown, Tarver (1964) warned that
are shown in Figure 2 for selected years between 1972 and withdrawals exceeding about 7.6 104 m3 /d could cause
1999. The isochlor advanced to its furthest inland position salt water intrusion and suggested that an expansion
in 1984 and then moved seaward to its last mapped posi of the well eld to the north and west would reduce
tion in 1999. Identifying the contributing factors, such as the potential for salt water intrusion by distributing the
drought and groundwater withdrawals, to the advance and withdrawal effects. The withdrawal threshold calculated
subsequent retreat of saline groundwater is not straight by Tarver (1964) was rst exceeded in 1971. In 1984,
forward as there are likely many factors contributing to the City of Pompano Beach constructed the Palm Aire
salt water movement. well eld about 5 km west of the Pompano Beach well
Relevant data for the Pompano Beach well-eld eld (Figure 1). The late 1980s to the present shows
area are shown in Figure 3 to summarize the hydrologic a redistribution of groundwater withdrawals from the
Pompano Beach well eld to the Palm Aire well eld production zone than in the layer beneath the production
(Figure 3). Reluctance by water managers to construct zone. The G-2055A monitoring well was open to the
new well elds in the western part of the county was production zone and salinity concentrations started to rise
due to the occurrence of poor quality groundwater (Howie in 1974. The G-2055 monitoring well, located next to
1987). G-2055A, but open in a deeper zone, did not begin to
Water levels of the Atlantic Ocean, Cypress Creek show elevated salinity concentrations until about 1983.
and Hillsboro Canals, and the G-853 monitoring well pro Data from these two wells indicate the presence of an
vide insight into the salt water intrusion event (Figure 3). isolated salt water wedge in the middle part of the
Both the Hillsboro and Cypress Creek Canals maintain aquifer.
relatively constant stages from about 1970 onward. The The City of Pompano Beach owns and maintains the
Atlantic Ocean, however, shows an increase of about municipal golf course adjacent to the Pompano Beach
25 cm from 1900 to 2005. By itself, the rise in sea level well eld (Figure 2). The golf course is irrigated using
does not explain the salt water intrusion event, but it may treated waste water. Irrigation rates were intentionally
have been a contributing factor. The most striking feature increased above what is needed to maintain the golf
of the water levels in Figure 3 is the sharp decline in the course in order to provide articial recharge and prevent
G-853 monitoring well, which is located near the center salt water intrusion. Irrigation with treated waste water
of the well eld. Water levels in this well remained near began in August 1989. The average irrigation rate from
or below sea level for the 1970 to 1990 period. A water 1989 to 2005 is about 4300 m3 /d. Averaged over the
table map constructed by Sherwood et al. (1973) for May area of the golf course, this rate is about 120 cm/year,
1971 showed water levels 1-m below sea level for much which is similar to the average annual rainfall rate of
of the Pompano Beach well-eld area. about 150 cm/year. The importance of excess golf course
An interesting characteristic of the salt water intrusion irrigation on minimizing the potential for salt water
event was that salt water intruded more rapidly in the intrusion was evaluated with a sensitivity analysis.
MODFLOW/SEAWAT
Hydrologic Feature Package Comment
Atlantic Ocean and CHD Cells with center elevations above the Atlantic Ocean sea oor are
Intracoastal Waterway represented as time-varying specied heads with the TDS
concentration for inow specied as 35 g/L. Intracoastal waterway
cells are also included as time-varying specied heads, but with a
TDS concentration of inow specied as 27 g/L (BCDPEP 2001)
and only in model layer 1.
Predevelopment fresh GHB Everglades fresh water wetlands were represented in western parts of
water wetlands the model in stress period 1 with a TDS concentration of zero. The
stage was set to 4 m, and the hydraulic conductance was calculated
using the cell area, half the cell thickness of model layer 1, and the
estimated vertical hydraulic conductivity of model layer 1.
Primary water GHB Primary water management canals (Hillsboro, L36, Pompano, and
management canals Cypress Creek) were represented in model layers 1 and 2 using
historical stage measurements. Canals were activated in the model
based on construction date. Hydraulic conductance was calculated
for each canal cell using an estimate of the aquifer-canal contact
area, the estimated horizontal hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer at
that cell, and a ow length of 50 m. A TDS concentration of 8 g/L
was specied for the tidal part of the Hillsboro Canal and 18 g/L
was assigned for the tidal parts of the Pompano and Cypress Creek
Canals. These concentrations were calculated using water-quality
data reported in BCDPEP (2001).
Secondary water RIV Secondary and tertiary water management canals were represented in
management canals model layer 1 using the RIV Package. Canal activation date, stage,
and hydraulic conductance were assigned using the same procedure
described for the primary water management canals.
Tidal canals GHB and RIV Tidal nger canals were assigned Atlantic Ocean stages and TDS
concentrations of the adjoining water body (Intracoastal Waterway,
Hillsboro Canal, or Cypress Creek Canal). Tidal canal activation
date and hydraulic conductance were assigned using the same
procedure described for the primary water management canals.
Recharge RCH A spatially uniform recharge rate was assigned to model layer 1 based
on measured rainfall totals. No attempt was made to subtract runoff,
interception, and unsaturated zone evapotranspiration quantities. This
approach was used by Merritt (1996a) and Langevin (2001, 2003) for
similarly constructed groundwater models of Miami-Dade County.
Evapotranspiration EVT The evapotranspiration surface was calculated by subtracting a value of
1.0 m from land surface to approximate microtopographic effects of
small depressions. The extinction depth was set to 7.0 m; this
relatively large depth was explained by Merritt (1996a) as
approximating other processes not represented by the model. For the
rst three stress periods, a maximum evapotranspiration rate of
151 cm/year was assigned (Merritt 1996a). For the remaining stress
periods, the maximum evapotranspiration rate varied by month
according to the rates estimated by Merritt (1996a).
Well-eld withdrawals WEL Withdrawals at public supply wells were specied in the model based
on estimated pumping records for each well. For public supply wells
with open-hole intervals that spanned multiple model layers, the
withdrawal rate was apportioned based on the estimated horizontal
hydraulic conductivity at that cell.
Golf course irrigation WEL Excess golf course irrigation (articial recharge) was modeled by
specifying a ux to layer 1 model cells within the Pompano Beach
municipal golf course. Measured irrigation totals not available for
19931994 and 20022005 were estimated from other years. The
percentage of the irrigation water that recharges the aquifer was
calculated as part of the calibration process. The TDS concentration
of the irrigation water was calculated using an average chloride
concentration of 400 mg/L.
BCDPEP, Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection.
Table 3
Statistical Description of the Spatially Variable Horizontal Hydraulic Conductivity (Kh) Fields Prior
to Calibration
Parameter Mean Standard Deviation Initial Kh Pilot Initial Kh Pilot Calibration Calibration
Group (log[Kh]) (log[Kh]) Point (Min) Point (Max) Minimum Limit Maximum Limit
Table 4
Spatially Uniform Model Parameters Estimated as Part of the Calibration Process
advantage of this approach is that the parameter estimation objection function. Historical water-quality records and
process is given the freedom to adjust the initial salinity discussions with well-eld personnel indicated that with
eld, if necessary, in order to better match observed salt the exception of the public supply well at the south
water intrusion patterns, and thus lengthy steady-state runs end of the well eld, TDS concentrations of withdrawn
can be avoided. groundwater never exceeded the potable limit (a chloride
concentration of 250 mg/L, which equates to a TDS con
Observations and Weights centration of about 0.4419 g/L). TDS concentrations of
Water levels and TDS concentrations in groundwater withdrawn groundwater simulated by the uncalibrated
monitoring wells and public supply wells comprised the model (using the initial parameter values), however,
observation dataset used to calibrate the model. Temporal exceeded potable limits at certain times indicating that
and spatial interpolation of model results was used to salt water had intruded into the Pompano Beach well
derive simulated values that corresponded in time and eld. Accordingly, the C_WELL observation group was
space to the observations. The observation data set was assigned a relatively large weight to improve the capa
divided into ve observation groups (Table 5). Weights bility of the model to represent fresh water conditions
were assigned uniformly to observations within a group. at municipal wells. TDS concentrations in monitoring
Weights assigned to each group were manually adjusted wells near the Pompano Beach well eld (Figure 2;
to achieve the intended contribution of the observation CONCS_POMP) were weighted the next highest. The
group to the composite measurement objective function. CONCS_POMP group also contains a time series of con
A wide variety of weighting schemes and weight values centration differences at monitoring wells G2055 and
were tested as part of the calibration process. For example, G2055A. These derived observations were added to
concentration weights are typically related to the inverse help the inversion process reproduce the isolated salt
of the concentration value to accommodate the assumed water wedge in the middle of the aquifer. Water lev
level of measurement error (Hill and Tiedeman 2007; els near the Pompano Beach well eld and then TDS
Sanz and Voss 2006). While this approach tended to concentration differences at other monitoring wells were
improve the match for low concentrations, simulated weighted the next highest. Outside of the Pompano Beach
TDS breakthrough curves did not adequately characterize well-eld area, heads were assigned a weight of zero for
the salt water intrusion event. Ultimately, the weights two reasons. First, there was generally good agreement
presented in Table 5 were used. between simulated and observed heads with the uncali
The contribution of each observation group to the brated model. This was not by chance, as many different
composite objection function was assigned on the basis conceptualizations, parameter sets, and boundary imple
of modeling objectives, an assessment of measurement mentations were tested. The mean error and mean abso
error, and experience gained from preliminary calibra lute error for the HEADS group were 0.03 and 0.41 m,
tion runs. The C_WELL observation group was intention respectively. Second, because groundwater levels in the
ally assigned the highest contribution to the measurement Biscayne aquifer are highly dependent on exchanges with
Table 6
Optimization Iteration
Group Statistics 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Notes: Residual statistics were calculated for those with nonzero weights. The number of values used to calculate these statics are listed in Table 5.
ME = mean error; MAE = mean absolute error; and RMS = root-mean-square error.
is true for all of the optimization iterations, including isolated salt water wedge detected at the G-2055A
the uncalibrated model. Simulated TDS concentrations are and G-2055 wells. In addition to the observed TDS
highly affected by the calibration process and it is clear concentration values used for calibration, a separate obser
that calibration has improved the t between observed vation set of temporal concentration differences at these
and simulated values, but there are some obvious de two wells was also used for calibration. Although there
ciencies. For monitoring wells G-2054, G-2055A, and are many explanations for this model deciency, the lead
G-2063, for example, maximum simulated concentrations ing explanation is numerical dispersion caused by a lack
do not match with maximum observed concentrations. In of vertical model resolution. Thus, while broad salt water
the mid-1980s, simulated concentrations are as much as transition zone characteristics over the width of the aquifer
10 g/L less than observed concentrations. Another model may be adequately represented, concentration differences
deciency is the inability to accurately represent the between layers may be underestimated.
the 25-cm rise in sea level over the 105-year simulation other key hydrologic factors: well-eld withdrawals,
period cannot be directly quantied from the calibrated annual recharge variations, and articial recharge at
model, nor can the relative importance of the other the golf course. The evaluation was performed by
hydrologic stresses. For this reason, a sensitivity analysis making a targeted adjustment to the input for the base
was performed to isolate the relative importance of these case calibrated model (Opt.6) and then rerunning the
factors on salt water intrusion. simulation. This approach is consistent with the approach
outlined by Loaiciga et al. (2012) for isolating the effect
of different stresses on salt water intrusion. In the case
Effect of Historical Sea-Level Rise of historical sea-level rise, a constant sea level at the
A qualitative sensitivity analysis was used to compare estimated 1900 level was used for the entire 105-year
the importance of historical sea-level rise to several simulation for the tidal canals, the Intracoastal Waterway,
Figure 9. Results from the qualitative sensitivity analysis showing simulated results for the base case and for simulations of
constant recharge, no sea-level rise, no groundwater withdrawals, and no articial recharge. Contours are of the 1 g/L TDS
concentration in model layer 4.