Exploitation, Restoration and Management

When dealing with exploitation, restoration and management of fresh groundwater in coastal aquifers the key issue is saltwater intrusion. Saltwater intrusion in groundwater is defined as the inflow of saline water in an aquifer system. This inflow can be in a steady state but mostly it is a transient process. In the latter case the inflowing saline water replaces fresh groundwater which was originally present in the system. The freshwater disappears by outflow at a rate roughly equal to the rate of inflow of saline water. This simultaneous outflow of fresh groundwater can take place either in a natural way, by seepage, or by abstraction. The result is an increase of the volume of saline groundwater and a decrease of the volume of fresh groundwater.