35. Seawater Intrusion in the Coastal Aquifer of Guanahacabibes, Pinar del Río, Cuba

A considerable part of the aquifers in the world are located in hydrographical open basins, where a contact of the fresh ground water co-exists with the sea water, the latent danger of a marine intrusion (contamination of the aquifer with saline water of the sea) being present in the case of an excessive exploitation of the aquifer or natural phenomenon. The phenomenon of the mixture dilutes sea sweet-water, common in the coastal karst aquifer, acquaintance as marine intrusion, is intensified in a natural way, according to the rain regime and the conditions of recharge of the aquifer or for man’s action. The loss of the quality of the natural waters in these aquifers influences negatively in this phenomenon. Many of these aquifers are used to provide water for human consumption and agriculture, as it happens in the coastal area of the peninsula of Guanahacabibes, which provides knowledge of the process of marine intrusion and assures the use of the hydraulic resource of this aquifer. The present work had as its objectives: analyzing the advance of the marine intrusion in the region, monitoring the polluting factors and applying the geophysical methods of hydrochemical modelling, and studying the marine intrusion to appreciate the behaviour of this phenomenon in Guanahacabibes.