What can be done to keep salt out of island's water source?

Facing the threat of saltwater intrusion into local drinking

water sources, South Carolina and Georgia officials are

cooperating to manage those underground reserves.

But some are worried current conservation efforts and future restrictions might not be enough to preserve the Upper Floridan Aquifer, a resource buried 150 to 300 feet deep that already has been tainted with enough salt water to close four wells on Hilton Head Island since 2000.

Studies have shown the saltwater problem began with development in Savannah that saw the city pumping millions of gallons of water a day from the aquifer.

By 1960, the water table had dropped 20 feet, and the groundwater flow shifted direction, according to Dr. Richard Spruill, a professor of hydrology at East Carolina University who has helped conduct some aquifer studies on Hilton Head.

Instead of fresh groundwater flowing north and discharging into salty Port Royal Sound, it now moves south toward Savannah.

That means saltwater is seeping into the aquifer and contaminating fresh water.

If the pumping doesn't slow in the Savannah area, saltwater intrusion will continue.

"Both states agree that our objective is ... to agree on the amount of groundwater we can safely pump without making the saltwater problem any worse," said Dean Moss, general manager of the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority, who also sits on a bi-state task force evaluating future water use.

"If we can stop pumping all together, within a couple hundred years maybe the saltwater can push out, but that is not going to be possible."

Instead, officials hope to stop saltwater from intruding farther.

While the goal is clear, the means to achieve it is not.

"But what kind of pumping reductions it will take to do that, we don't know yet," Moss said.

WHAT'S BEING DONE?

On Hilton Head, public service districts provide water to customers on a conservation rate structure. That means that customers who use more water pay more per gallon. That structure has been in place for more than a decade.

Georgia now is following suit.

The state's Environmental Protection Division is calling on Savannah and Tybee Island to institute the billing method to try to reduce use of the

aquifer.

Georgia is also requiring water providers and industries to reduce usage from the current 62.5 million gallons a day to 2004 levels of 61 million gallons a day.

The lower figure is still five times more than what Beaufort County pumps from the aquifer, Moss said.

To further reduce use, Georgia is working with large water users such as industries and city governments to eliminate another 5 million gallons a day by the end of the year, said Brian Baker, a state division program manager.

But restricting use means finding other sources, such as the Savannah River or deeper aquifers. Water from both sources can be more expensive to treat.

"This whole initiative is to stave off saltwater intrusion and still to allow for growth," Baker said. "As it looks right now, those (reductions) will be sufficient to protect our water source, at least for the foreseeable future."

Moss is not so sure.

He said the states are trying to determine, with the help of the U.S. Geological Survey, the safe amount to pump from the aquifer. Studies are still under way.

LOWCOUNTRY EFFORTS

The Beaufort-Jasper authority, which provides water to public service districts, will also monitor a new project, to draw from the Middle Floridan Aquifer, a deeper source of water.

The Hilton Head Public Service District is building a $12.5 million "reverse osmosis" plant to treat water from the 600-foot-deep aquifer so that it meetsdrinking water standards.

Moss said there aren't enough wells drilled in the middle aquifer to know if it will solve the saltwater problem. He hopes the district's project will provide a better understanding.

"The question is, if you pump from the middle will you create a problem that causes the water from the upper to flow down into the middle?" Dean said. "We don't understand enough about it. ... It's possible the middle offers us some real opportunity in the long run."

District manager Richard Cyr said the new plant will replace water being lost to saltwater

intrusion.

"We're, right now, at the mercy of Georgia," Cyr said. "There is really little to nothing that we can do other than go to another source. It's almost criminal to see a resource like the aquifer being contaminated, and especially from over-pumping. That should not be allowed."

WORKING TOGETHER

Officials in both states recognize the need to protect water sources, an issue addressed last week at South Carolina's first water resources conference. The two-day event in North Charleston brought scientists, policy makers and industry leaders from both states together to discuss the region's water challenges.

Those attending stressed the need to work together to avoid water wars, which could lead to litigation that might take years.

Officials say they can't wait that long because explosive growth in coastal areas, persistent drought conditions and global climate changes will all stress water sources over the next 25 years.

While coastal water resources won't go dry, providing low-cost water will become more challenging because surface water can cost three times more to treat than groundwater.

"What I am advocating ... is that (both states) have a plan for the joint use of the surface water and the groundwater, so we are working together rather than competing with each other for the resource," Moss said.

"We should be able to work together to determine how much groundwater we can pump, and we ought to be working to try to balance that between the states so everyone gets the benefit of the groundwater."

To ensure resources are managed properly, both states will continue to meet as studies continue. The federal government also plans to help.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working to establish a regional alliance uniting all the Southeastern states. The alliance would identify strategies to protect and manage water resources. A first meeting is scheduled for December.