Strategic Partneships Project: Developing and improving partnerships in implementing priority projects and research for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area

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Beyond the Wedge: Impact of Tidal Streams on Salinization of Groundwater in a Coastal Aquifer Stressed by Pumping and Sea-Level Rise

This article was originally published in Water Resources Research. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR035840. © 2024 The Author(s). This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Saltwater intrusion (SWI) is a well-studied phenomenon that threatens the freshwater supplies of coastal communities around the world. The development and advancement of numerical models has led to improved assessment of the risk of salinization. However, these studies often fail to include the impact of surface waters as potential sources of aquifer salinity and how they may impact SWI. Based on field-collected data, we developed a regional, variable-density groundwater model using SEAWAT for east Dover, Delaware. In this location, major users of groundwater from the surficial aquifer are the City of Dover and irrigation for agriculture. Our model includes salinized marshland and tidal streams, along with irrigation and municipal pumping wells. Model scenarios were run for 100 years and included changes in pumping rates and sea-level rise (SLR). We examined how these drivers of SWI affect the extent and location of salinization in the surficial aquifer by evaluating differences in chloride concentration near surface waters and the subsurface freshwater-saltwater interface. We found the presence of the marsh inverts the typical freshwater-saltwater wedge interface and that the edge of the interface did not migrate farther inland. Additionally, we found that tidal streams are the dominant pathways of SWI at our site with salinization from streams being exacerbated by SLR. Our results also show that spatial distribution of pumping affects both the magnitude and extent of salinization, with an increase in concentrated pumping leading to more intensive salinization than a more widely distributed increase of the same total pumping volume. Key Points - Presence of a saltmarsh inverts the freshwater-saltwater interface in our study location - Tidal streams contribute substantially to salinization of inland groundwater - Concentrated pumping led to more intensive salinization than widespread pumpingThis project was conducted as part of Project WiCCED (Water in the Changing Coastal Environment of Delaware), which is funded by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Grant OIA1757353 and the State of Delaware. Funding for MH was also obtained from the Delaware Environmental Institute. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Support for the geophysical survey and data analysis was provided by the USGS Delaware River Basin Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) project

Neither fish nor fowl: Exploring seconded and contracted teachers’ experiences of the university sector

While seconded and contracted teachers make a significant contribution to education faculties there is limited research regarding their experiences, needs and supports. Accordingly, interviews were conducted with five seconded and three contracted teachers in an Australian regional university and interpreted within a qualitative, interpretative framework. Themes that emerge from the study highlight the contrast between university and school cultures, issues around identity, the ways in which teaching is viewed, research activity for second/contracted teachers, positives and negatives around secondment, and the phases through which seconded and contract teachers move during their employment at university. Recommendations regarding the role and expectations of seconded and contracted teachers conclude the paper.No Full Tex