flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Saltwater incursion into Miami’s aquifer may make city uninhabitable later this century

Codes and Standards

Saltwater incursion into Miami’s aquifer may make city uninhabitable later this century

Rising sea levels likely to claim drinking water before land is under water.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | September 12, 2018

The Miami metro region faces crises due to rising sea levels that threaten to make the area uninhabitable.

While the danger of flooding has been widely documented, the threat to the region’s drinking water supply has been less chronicled. In fact, salt water incursion into the region’s aquifer could be what threatens Miami’s viability for human habitation before the doomsday scenario of inundation of the land by the sea.

The Biscayne Aquifer, 4,000 square miles of shallow, porous limestone, has provided the region with an abundant source of fresh water that is inexpensive to access. The aquifer’s characteristics that make it easily accessible also make it vulnerable to fouling by saltwater and pollution.

How long southeast Florida can keep its water safe may be the key determinant for the long term. “If Miami-Dade can’t protect its water supply, whether it can handle the other manifestations of climate change won’t matter,” observes a recent Bloomberg article.

“Projecting the pace of saltwater intrusion is fantastically complicated,” the article says. One factor that might help slow saltwater aquifer incursion, a massive, still-unfunded pledge to restore the Everglades by the state and federal government, is yet to be implemented.

Related Stories

| Jul 16, 2012

Business school goes for maximum vision, transparency, and safety with fire rated glass

Architects were able to create a 2-hour exit enclosure/stairwell that provided vision and maximum fire safety using fire rated glazing that seamlessly matched the look of other non-rated glazing systems.

| Jul 12, 2012

Federal budget chief to explain impact of pending defense cuts before Congress

Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients is scheduled to testify before the House Armed Services Committee Aug. 1 to explain the possible effects of $500 billion in defense cuts on U.S. companies, including those in the design and construction industry.

| Jul 12, 2012

Pennsylvania legislature moves to prevent undocumented workers on public construction projects

Legislation to prevent undocumented workers from being hired by construction companies working on state-funded projects passed the Pennsylvania Legislature.

| Jul 12, 2012

New York’s One Bryant Park Bank of America tower is first new high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum

The new One Bryant Park Bank of America tower in midtown Manhattan is the first new commercial high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

| Jul 12, 2012

OSHA launches campaign to prevent heat illness

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched its 2012 Heat Illness Prevention Campaign to educate employees and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in heat, and how to prevent heat-related illnesses.

| Jul 12, 2012

Contractors have increasing concerns over new federal hiring quotas

A proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to increase disabled- and veteran-worker hiring quotas for federal contractors continues to raise deep concerns among contractors.

| Jul 5, 2012

Veterans Administration threatens to pull contract on new Orlando medical center

The Veterans Administration asked contractor Brasfield & Gorrie to get more workers on the job and figure out a way to get the job done faster, or the VA would pull the contract on the much-delayed Orlando VA Medical Center.

| Jul 5, 2012

Cost to contractors for new federal hiring quotas much higher than estimated, AGC says

Administration officials significantly underestimated the cost to construction employers of proposed new hiring quotas for federal contractors, according to analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America.

| Jul 5, 2012

Roof membrane could have prevented roof parking deck collapse, specialist says

The collapse of a section of a roof parking deck at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake in Ontario, Canada could have been prevented if the structure had a membrane, according to a concrete expert and specialist in structure analysis at McMaster University.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Sustainability

Grimshaw launches free online tool to help accelerate decarbonization of buildings

Minoro, an online platform to help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, was recently launched by architecture firm Grimshaw, in collaboration with more than 20 supporting organizations including World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), RIBA, Architecture 2030, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and several national Green Building Councils from across the globe.




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021