The Biscayne Aquifer, named after

Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is large ...

, is a surficial aquifer. It is a shallow layer of highly permeable

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

under a portion of South

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The area it underlies includes

Broward County Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

, Monroe County, and

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

, a total of about .

Description

The water-absorbing layers of rock underlying south Florida divide into three layers. The Biscayne Aquifer is closest to the surface and because of this it directly interacts with natural and man-made bodies of surface water, such as streams, lakes, canals and reservoirs. The ground water and the aquifer currently are managed as an integrated water system. Because the top part of the Biscayne

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

is the water table, this aquifer is known as an

unconfined aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The study of water flow in aquifers ...

. Since it merges with the floor of

and with the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, it is also a coastal aquifer. Both of these factors contribute to its potential contamination. Lowered water tables, primarily from over-pumping, could allow salt water intrusion without man-made interventions such as dam-like structures that control fresh and salt water levels in canals. Because the aquifer is so close to the surface, it is extremely vulnerable to surface contaminants. A massive saltwater plume is radiating from the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station toward wellfields in the aquifer.

Management

The

South Florida Water Management District The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is a regional governmental district that oversees water resources from Orlando to the Florida Keys. The mission of the SFWMD is to manage and protect water resources by balancing and improving ...

controls an extensive system of

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

s and other control systems and

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses, are public utility buildings containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are critical in a variety of infrastructure systems, such as water supply, Land reclamation, ...

s along with the Biscayne Aquifer,

Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...

and three other large water conservation areas as it monitors and controls the storage and release of the water in the district. It must take into account the danger of salt water intrusion and monitor water demand while it manages surplus flood water and maintains water table levels and adequate water supplies. The Biscayne Aquifer supplies

South Florida metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the la ...

with its primary source of fresh water. This area includes most of south Florida (Miami-Dade, Monroe, and parts of Broward Counties) as well was other urban areas stretching from

Homestead, Florida Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the United States, U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and ...

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020, was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located in the Miami metropolitan area, De ...

. Further, water from the Biscayne Aquifer is piped to the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

Footnotes

External links

Description of Biscayne Aquifer
Aquifers in the United States Hydrology Geologic formations of the United States Geology of Florida {{watersupply-stub