Offshore fresh groundwater in coastal unconsolidated sediment systems as a potential fresh water source in the 21st century

Abstract

Coastal areas worldwide are often densely populated and host regional agricultural and industrial hubs. Strict water quality requirements for agricultural, industrial and domestic use are regularly not satisfied by surface waters in coastal areas and consequently lead to over-exploitation of local fresh groundwater resources. Additional pressure by both climate change and population growth further intensifies the upcoming water stress and raise the urgency to search for new fresh water sources. In recent years, offshore fresh groundwater (OFG) reserves have been identified as such a potential water source. In this study, we quantify, for the first time, the global volume of OFG in unconsolidated coastal aquifers using numerical groundwater models. Our results confirm previously reported widespread presence of OFG along the global coastline. Furthermore, we find that these reserves are likely non-renewable resources mostly deposited during glacial periods when sea levels were substantially lower compared to current sea level. We estimate the total OFG volume in unconsolidated coastal aquifers to be approximately 1.06 ± 0.2 million km³, which is roughly three times more than estimated previously and about 10% of all terrestrial fresh groundwater. With extensive active and inactive offshore oil pumping present in areas of large OFG reserves, they could be considered for temporary fresh groundwater exploration as part of a transition to sustainable water use in coastal areas on the long run.