Water in the Changing Coastal Environment of Delaware (Project WiCCED) is a multi-year National Science Foundation EPSCoR – funded effort that includes a consortium of scientists and educators from University of Delaware (UD), Delaware State University, Wesley College, and Delaware Technical and
Monitoring wells and groundwater sensors were installed and monitored in and around Holts Landing State Park on the Indian River Bay, eastern Sussex County, Delaware, between October 2009 and August 2012. Data from test drilling, geophysical logging, geophysical surveys, and well testing characterized the hydrogeological framework and spatial and temporal patterns of water pressure, temperature, and salinity in the shallow, unconfined Columbia aquifer. The work revealed a plume of freshened groundwater extending more than 650 ft into the bay from the shoreline.
A recently released article “Hydrogeologic controls on groundwater discharge and nitrogen loads in a coastal watershed” by the Journal of Hydrology details the results of a joint groundwater simulation and water quality sampling study that focused on submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) to Indian River and Rehoboth Bays, part of Delaware Inland Bays.
This report presents a conceptual model of groundwater flow and the effects of nitrate (NO3-) loading and transport on shallow groundwater quality in a portion of the Indian River watershed, eastern Sussex County, Delaware. Three-dimensional, numerical simulations of groundwater flow, particle tracking, and contaminant transport were constructed and tested against data collected in previous hydrogeological and water-quality studies.
On a small, homemade barge, built from the skeleton of an old ship, a gray slurry of bay bottom sand flows out, of a pipe into a bucket. Two scientists, a well driller and two student interns drill a hole in the floor of the Indian River Bay. They'll install a very long pipe into the hole and use it to monitor groundwater - how much flows 'into the bay, how salty it is and how many nutrients it carries with it.
Scott Andres of the Delaware Geological Survey and Holly Michael, assistant professor of geological sciences, participated in 2011 National Ground Water Association (NGWA) Groundwater Summit and were co-organizers of the session titled "Submarine Discharge of Groundwater and Nutrients into Estuaries and Oceans," May 3, Baltimore.
Scientists study flow of groundwater into bays. Results may help track pollution.
On a small, homemade barge, built from the skeleton of an old ship, a gray slurry of bay bottom sand flows out of a pipe into a bucket. Two scientists, a well driller and two student interns drill a hole in the floor of the Indian River Bay. They’ll install a very long pipe into the hole and use it to monitor groundwater – how much flows into the bay, how salty it is and how many nutrients it carries with it.
