Does Sea Water Intrusion[3] Make the Proposed Cooling Technology for the Project Infeasible?
When groundwater levels near the coast fall below mean sea level, there is a natural physical tendency for seawater to penetrate into the groundwater basin. The ocean pushes the more dense seawater inland to raise the water table until it is equal to mean sea level. This is depicted in Figure 6. Figure 6 Groundwater pumping in excess of groundwater recharge can enhance this natural tendency. As seawater encroaches into the fresh groundwater basin, water quality is degraded and wells have to be abandoned. This is depicted in Figure 7. If fresh water is not available for recharge, or if the groundwater table is reduced to elevations below sea level, seawater will be drawn inland until equilibrium is restored. Unlike freshwater levels in the groundwater basin that vary with the season and climatic trends, the ocean is a constant source of recharge and the elevation varies only marginally with the tide. When inland pumping causes the water level to drop (see Figure 7a), pressure throughout
