Sea Water Level Rise Research Articles

Saltwater intrusion management at different coastal aquifers bed slopes considering sea level rise and reduction in fresh groundwater storage

Coastal fresh groundwater management is a challenging research topic due to the relevance of these resources and the huge suffered risks due to global change and overpopulation. The geometrical features of coastal aquifers play a control role in saltwater intrusion (SWI). Seawater level rise and the reduction in aquifer fresh groundwater storage are promoting SWI. All these key factors are considered with two different numerical approaches defining schematic management criteria bottom using the numerical code SEAWAT. The former approach adopts the well-known Henry’s problem; the latter is based on the real study case of the Gaza aquifer (Palestine). Different aquifer bed slopes (ABS), and hydraulic and physical methods for SWI management are considered together with SLR, recharge reduction, and over pumping. The results showed that the land side ABS cases show more SWI than sea side and horizontal ABS. Cut-off walls and check dams are effective to manage SWI in horizontal ABS more than in other slopes, also the subsurface dams, earth fill and recharge of freshwater are good methods in land side ABS while the abstraction of brackish water and combination of recharge with abstraction are better to mitigate of SWI in sea side ABS. Useful comparing tables and considerations are defined with the purpose to guide the preliminary selections of new management solutions for reducing the effect of the global change on groundwater resources for different slopes aquifers around the coastal world.Graphical abstract

Improving the Sustainability of Urban Water Management through Innovative Groundwater Recharge System (GRS)

Negative impacts of groundwater overuse have always been one of the problems of modern cities in arid and semi-arid regions; rapid population growth and climate change have also exacerbated these problems in many areas. One of the best approaches to deal with the impacts of these phenomena (soil subsidence, decline in groundwater quality, and seawater intrusion) is to artificially recharge water into aquifers and raise the groundwater level. In this paper, an innovative solution called Groundwater Recharge Systems (GRS) is proposed with high efficiency, low cost, and fast implementation capability to address these problems. The proposed solution also has the capability of being constructed in urban environments without the need to allocate any spacious land or the need to use any sophisticated technologies. The study of implementing the proposed groundwater recharge systems in the study area showed that the performance of this system, even in worst-case scenarios, will be very significant even considering climate change impacts such as seawater level rise and decline in precipitation.

Towards Sustainable, Resilient and Adaptive Urban Underground Space (UUS) Exploration, Land Subsidence and Economic Impact Spatial Model (USEM) in Shanghai, P.R. China: Systematic Reviews, Model Framework, Initial Results and Pre-Determined Challenges

As a coastal megacity, Shanghai despite having one of the world’s leading UUS exploration for utilities, transportation, metro system, commercial and residential spaces is continuously vulnerable to serious geo-environmental hazards risks and climate change impact: land subsidence, flooding, storm surge, and seawater level rise. Hence, it is imperative to study the continuous impact of rapid UUS development, land subsidence mechanisms, related geo-environmental hazards and its socio-economic impacts towards establishing a resilient, adaptive and sustainable UUS development via spatial planning and development model to lessen future adverse consequences. The aim of this paper is to present current progressive findings of the entitled research work. Methods conducted include systematic reviews of existing online journals available at open-sourced databases such as Google Scholar and Research Gate, determined USEM’s concrete steps consists of cause-effect, spatiotemporal, scenarios modelling and comparative analysis. The data gathered are mostly secondary. The four major findings are: (1) systematic reviews summarised outcomes; (2) determined USEM model framework; (3) Initial results produced from the USEM’s first step of cause-effect analysis in Shanghai and (4) Pre-determined challenges for the model. The model’s methods are expected to be used to study Shanghai condition in comparison with developing coastal megacity like Jakarta, Indonesia. It can also be referred by related interested experts especially towards assisting deeper understanding on geo-dynamics of land subsidence, UUS and economic impact via spatial modelling and formulating policies of adaptation and resilience in developed and developing coastal megacities in the world.

Comparison and investigation on tidal levels designed for the coastal embankments in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

Tidal levels designed for coastal levee in Pearl River estuary have been provided by Department of water resources of Guangdong Province in 2002 and played important role in ensuring the security of coastal cities in recent decades. However, big changes have taken place in the hydrological regime of the estuary as the sea water level rise and Frequent storm surges in recent years. The proportions of the coastal levee lengths in Guangzhou and Zhuhai city occupied a large part of the portion in the Bay Area, about 30% and 23% respectively, while the shortest in Shenzhen city, accounting for only 5%. The designed tidal levels used for coastal levees in the past were compared with those proposed by PRWRC in the year 2011, showing lower about 0.2∼0.5m totally in the mouths and open waters including Shiziyang of the estuary. It would reach to about 0.6∼0.7m lower in the waters around Nansha district after considering the influence of the typhoon Mangkhut and Hato, while there was little variation in the net river area upstream in any case. The controlled tidal levels designed for coastal levees were analyzed for its applicability and it showed that those used in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Jiangmen city meet the requirements and were somewhat lower in Dongguan, Zhuhai and Zhongshan city under variation of hydrological regime recently.

Resilience of coastal cities with accumulating climate-change coupled threats; depends on the cooperation of government, experts and the citizens

Most cities in the world are coastal cities, especially facing accumulating climate-change coupled threats. These cities are precisely the ones that are growing the fastest, what makes this development a risk for millions of people in our world. These accumulating threats happen when seawater-level rise, clustered heavy rainfall, and meltwater river-level rise fall occur simultaneously. Within the H2020 Marie Curie ‘SOS Climate Waterfront’ 2019-2021 research program, researchers exchanged between coastal cities in Europe to explore whether they are aware of the need for resilience, and how the resilience in these cities is structured systematically. Aiming for the accelerated adjustment of the research methodology, the situation of three EU islands was examined as a sidekick. Thereby Actions/Actors-diagram is developed as a tool. The conclusions are: this diagram helps to make the positions of actors clear, helps to clarify which measures are being worked on, and can help to identify any obstacles to work on resilience. In relation to the situation on the three islands, the diagram also helped to clarify the reason for the blockade. It has been concluded that for this type of research it is important to first properly visualize the local situation, and to make extra efforts to talk to many experts and make extra additions to interview citizens connected to community initiatives.

Vulnerability of the Caspian Sea shoreline to changes in hydrology and climate

During the past three decades, sea water level (SWL) in the Caspian Sea has declined by about 2 m and sea area has decreased by about 15 000 km2. This has affected coastal communities, the environment and economically important gulfs of the sea (e.g. Dead Kultuk). To assess the effects of coastline change and evaluate zones vulnerable to desiccation, we simulated SWL using total inflow from feeder rivers and precipitation and evaporation over the sea. We determined potential vulnerable areas of the sea over the past 80 years by comparing the minimum and maximum annual water body maps (for 1977 and 1995). We then determined the linear regression between SWL rise and covered potential vulnerable area (CVA), using annual Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI) maps and SWL data from 1977 to 2018. Combining SWL-CVA regression and SWL simulation model enabled us to determine desiccated areas in different regions of the Caspian Sea due to changes in precipitation, evaporation and total inflow. The results showed that 25 000 km2 of the sea is potentially vulnerable to SWL fluctuations in terms of desiccation, with 70% of this vulnerable area located in Kazakhstan. Potential vulnerable area per kilometre coastline was found to be 6 km2 in Kazakhstan, 4 km2 in Russia and whole of Caspian Sea, 1.5 km2 in Iran, 1 km2 in Azerbaijan and 0.5 km2 in Turkmenistan. The results also indicated that SWL in the Caspian Sea is sensitive to evaporation and that e.g. a 37.5 mm decrease in mean annual net precipitation would lead to a 1875 km2 decrease in the sea area, while a 1 km3 decrease in mean annual inflow would lead to a 1400 km2 decrease in the sea area. Thus the developed framework enabled the spatial consequences of changes in water balance parameters on sea area to be quantified. It can be used to assess future changes in SWL and sea area due to anthropogenic activities and climate change.

Simulation of Catchment Area, Water Storage and Pump Capacity in Polder Drainage System

Tidal flooding that occurs on the northern coast of Semarang City is caused by high rainfall, sea water level rise, and is exacerbated by land subsidence. Handling of tidal flooding is recommended with a polder system. Tidal flood management is made of several alternative retention ponds located in the Banger region so that water can flow in the new retention pond at the pump into the river so that the water goes to the sea. The purpose of this study is to formulate a correlation between catchment area, retention pool and pump capacity. Rainfall-runoff as well as hydraulic parameters were computed and simulate using SWMM software Version 5.1. Based on the analysis results, it clearly shows that, the flood discharge of 24 m3/s can be overcome by integrated pond structure with pump configuration. Alternative 1 retention pool 1 with a storage volume of 15,000 m3, Alternative 2 combined ponds 1 and 2 with a storage volume of 11,400 m3, Alternative 3 combined 3 ponds 1, 2 and 3, storage volume of 14,200 m3, alternative 4, is a combination of the three retention ponds above, with a storage volume of 64,300 m3. The water level in the pond is maintained not to overflow when pumping is carried out with the addition of the pool area, it will further reduce the capacity of the pump that is turned on with certain configurations on the pump operation schedule.

Simulating Caspian Sea surface water level by artificial neural network and support vector machine models

Reduction in sea water level can make services in nearshore structures difficult, and sea water level rise increases the risk to residential areas or the surrounding fields. For strategic planning, it is vital to take into account the present and future fluctuations of Caspian Sea water level. In this study, support vector machine and artificial neural network are used to estimate water level of the Caspian Sea. A 34-year period dataset is used as input data for water level on the scale based at Anzali, Iran. Performances of these two models are compared according to some statistical indices. Results of this study indicate that support vector machine with an error of 4.782 mm and r = 0.96 simulated the time series better, as compared with artificial neural network with an error of 5.014 mm and r = 0.957; furthermore, the uncertainty of this model is lower than that of the artificial neural network, i.e., 0.04 verses 0.22.

Organic Amendments Alleviate Salinity Effects on Soil Microorganisms and Mineralisation Processes in Aerobic and Anaerobic Paddy Rice Soils

Sea-water level rise leads to increased saltwater intrusion causing soil salinity on arable land with negative effects on soil microbial processes. Organic amendments are known to reduce the effects of salinity on soil microorganisms, therefore positively influencing microbial activity and nutrient cycling. However, the extent of this effect in paddy rice soils under aerobic compared to anaerobic conditions is unknown. Consequently, benefits of organic matter addition on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) mineralisation under saline conditions were evaluated in a short-term laboratory incubation experiment. Two soils from Bangladesh were incubated with rice straw, manure or a manure-rice straw mixture at 50 and 100% water holding capacity (25°C, 27 days). In addition, NaCl was added to half of the samples, which resulted in a set of non-saline (ECe = 1.1-1.3 dS m-1) and saline (ECe = 24.0-32.4 dS m-1) soils. Soil respiration (CO2-release) was measured throughout the experiment. At the end of the experiment, dissolved organic C, inorganic N, microbial biomass as well as bacterial, archaeal and fungal domains were determined. Overall, effects of substrate addition overruled effects caused by salinity and water content. Microbial activity and biomass in particular fungi increased most strongly after rice straw addition and resulted in N immobilisation independent of moisture level. Rice straw and manure alleviated the effects of salinity on microorganisms; these were therefore mainly detectable in the non-amended soils. The reason for this is likely a higher C availability for soil microorganisms after amendment of organic materials, which allows them to produce osmolytes, counteracting the osmotic effects of increased salinity. However, the microbial communities of the two soils under investigation showed different response patterns to salinity reflected by a substantially higher fungi-bacteria ratio in soil B prone to salinity at 50% WHC as compared to soil A. Likewise, the metabolic quotient was higher in soil B and not affected by any of the short term treatments, revealing a soil legacy. Our results highlight the importance of organic amendments, such as rice straw to paddy soils under saline conditions to reduce negative effects on soil microbial processes, allowing them to maintain their major functions.

Effects of Aquifer Bed Slope and Sea Level on Saltwater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers

The quality of groundwater resources in coastal aquifers is affected by saltwater intrusion. Over-abstraction of groundwater and seawater level rise due to climate change accelerate the intrusion process. This paper investigates the effects of aquifer bed slope and seaside slope on saltwater intrusion. The possible impacts of increasing seawater head due to sea level rise and decreasing groundwater level due to over-pumping and reduction in recharge are also investigated. A numerical model (SEAWAT) is applied to well-known Henry problem to assess the movement of the dispersion zone under different settings of bed and seaside slopes. The results showed that increasing seaside slope increased the intrusion of saltwater by 53.2% and 117% for slopes of 1:1 and 2:1, respectively. Increasing the bed slope toward the land decreased the intrusion length by 2% and 4.8%, respectively. On the other hand, increasing the bed slope toward the seaside increased the intrusion length by 3.6% and 6.4% for bed slopes of 20:1 and 10:1, respectively. The impacts of reducing the groundwater level at the land side and increasing the seawater level at the shoreline by 5% and 10% considering different slopes are studied. The intrusion length increased under both conditions. Unlike Henry problem, the current investigation considers inclined beds and sea boundaries and, hence, provides a better representation of the field conditions.

Impact of gate operating modes of sea dikes on hydrodynamic regime and inundated area in Can Gio Bay

ABSTRACT Ho Chi Minh City gets severely inundated by upstream flooding and a combination of rising spring tides and rain, owing to the combined impacts of rapid urbanization and sea level changes. A sea dike to close Can Gio Bay has been proposed to regulate storage and control water levels in the drainage and sewer system of Ho Chi Minh City. However, this proposed sea dike and different gate operating modes could significantly change the hydrodynamic regime in Can Gio Bay. In this study, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model was developed to assess changes in the hydrodynamic regime after construction of the sea dike, including fluctuations in the inundated areas in Can Gio Bay mangrove forests. The results show that sea dike construction is an effective solution for controlling water levels and reducing inundation, especially considering a sea level rise scenario in the year 2050. Further, the gate operation mode also affects the effectiveness of inundation reduction, which is approximately 10% better than the same sea dike type without gate operation. However, the sea dike was less effective in a sea water level rise scenario in 2100 for all scenarios.

An Investigation Concerning the Impact of Climate Changes on the Water Equilibrium in the Egyptian Nile Delta

Abstract In such problematic water situation in Egypt, control and saving of the available limited quantity takes great importance from both technical and national points of view. In addition to all the well-known traditional reasons of the problem such as pollution, over usage, and bad traditions of dealing with water, a new very important reason is added nowadays, called “Climate Changes” which has a direct impact on sea water rising, that causes a serious attack of the salt water to the fresh water especially in River Deltas., Not only the surface water, but also the ground water. Since that process proved some acceleration, several investigations have recently considered the worst impacts of climate change and sea water level rise on sea water intrusion. Most of them have revealed the severity of such problem, and the significance of the land movement of the dispersion zone under the sea water level rise situation. In this paper, we try to introduce a technical review and study for the most popular studies concerning our topic, and its most important conclusions, as an approach for preparing the Ph.D. thesis about the Nile Delta water equilibrium in the light of the expected Mediterranean Sea water level rise. Nile Delta, which located between Damietta Branch on the East, and Rosetta Branch on the west, occupies about 20000 square kilometers of the most rich, productive land in Egypt. About 50% of Egyptian population live in that area, agriculture is the main human activities on them, so water is the prime factor in their life, and their agriculture investments. The great amount of this investment depends on the ground water, which faces a serious challenge due to, two reasons, first, is the overuse, and over pumping, while the second is the attack of the salt water due to the Mediterranean Seawater level rise, because of the climate changes. These two reasons must be overcome, if the first reason can be controlled by law, and technical roles, the second reason needs intensive studies and investigations concerning the interaction between seawater and fresh ground water.

Sea water intrusion into coastal aquifers -concepts, methods and adoptable control practices

Seawater intrusion is one of the most wide-spread and important processes that degrades groundwater quality by raising salinity to levels exceeding acceptable drinking water and irrigation standards, and endangers future exploitation of coastal aquifers. In India, the coastal region occupies some of the most potential aquifer systems of the country. Extensive research is being carried out in many parts of the world with the objectives of understanding the mechanism of seawater intrusion and improving the methods to control it in order to protect groundwater resources in coastal aquifers. The developed numerical models are based on different concepts. The investigations on possible impacts of climate change and seawater level rise on seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers revealed the severity of the problem and the significance of the landward movement of the dispersion zone under the condition of seawater level rise due to climate change. Sea level rise caused by global warming has become a root cause, pressure from the increase in the quantity of saltwater that many will try to enter the fresh water aquifer. Future sea-level rise due to climate change is expected to occur at a rate greatly exceeding that of the recent past. For effective management of coastal aquifer system, it is necessary to thorough understand the aquifer geometry, distribution of the fresh water and saline water in the system, optimum pumping rates, movement of the fresh water saline water interface, tidal influence into the aquifer. Safe yield of the aquifer has to be evaluated and accordingly the extraction has to be restricted, remedial measures have to be done wherever sea water intrusion has taken place. This paper describes about sea water intrusion processes, extent, estimation and various control measures to combat the problem and for sustainable use of fresh water from different case studies undertaken at India, Australia, Netherlands, Brazil and United Kingdom.

Resiliency via integrated coastal management in Kish Island

Small islands around the world face various hazards such as sea-water level rise, hurricanes, human activities over pressure, environmental degradation, and pollution. Resiliency is a critical feature that has to be maintained in these sensitive and vulnerable areas. This paper focuses on the importance of Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in increasing the level of resiliency in small islands. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) has been recommended for practice by United Nations 1992 Rio Conference resolution to conserve the valuable natural resources of the coastal areas around the globe and improve their deteriorating environmental conditions. Integrated coastal management plan in small islands should resolve their problems in such a way that sustainable development is guaranteed. Kish is a beautiful small island in the Persian Gulf region, which serves the country as a free trade zone. This article describes its characteristics and problems and also the e orts that have been made for integrated coastal management initiatives in the island to identify the basic problems and provide plans for strengthening the island to manage its current and future problems via acquiring an acceptable level of resiliency.

Effects of Harbor Shape on the Induced Sedimentation; L-Type Basin

Tsunamis in shallow water zones lead to sea water level rise and fall, strong currents, forces (drag, impact, uplift, etc.), morphological changes (erosion, deposition), dynamic water pressure, as well as resonant oscillations. As a result, ground materials under the tsunami motion move, and scour/erosion/deposition patterns can be observed in the region. Ports and harbors as enclosed basins are the main examples of coastal structures that usually encounter natural hazards with small or huge damaging scales. Morphological changes are one of the important phenomena in the basins under short and long wave attack. Tsunamis as long waves lead to sedimentation in the basins, and therefore, in this study, the relation to the current pattern is noticed to determine sedimentation modes. Accordingly, we present a methodology based on the computation of the instantaneous Rouse number to investigate the tsunami motion and to calculate the respective sedimentation. This study aims to investigate the effects of the incident wave period on an L-type harbor sedimentation with a flat bathymetry using a numerical tool, NAMI DANCE, which solves non-linear shallow water equations. The results showed that the corner points on the bending part of the basin are always the critical points where water surface elevation and current velocity amplify in the exterior and interior corners, respectively.

Three-dimensional hydrostratigraphical modelling to support evaluation of recharge and saltwater intrusion in a coastal groundwater system in Vietnam

Saltwater intrusion is generally related to seawater-level rise or induced intrusion due to excessive groundwater extraction in coastal aquifers. However, the hydrogeological heterogeneity of the subsurface plays an important role in (non-)intrusion as well. Local hydrogeological conditions for recharge and saltwater intrusion are studied in a coastal groundwater system in Vietnam where geological formations exhibit highly heterogeneous lithologies. A three-dimensional (3D) hydrostratigraphical solid model of the study area is constructed by way of a recursive classification procedure. The procedure includes a cluster analysis which uses as parameters geological formation, lithological composition, distribution depth and thickness of each lithologically distinctive drilling interval of 47 boreholes, to distinguish and map well-log intervals of similar lithological properties in different geological formations. A 3D hydrostratigraphical fence diagram is then generated from the constructed solid model and is used as a tool to evaluate recharge paths and saltwater intrusion to the groundwater system. Groundwater level and chemistry, and geophysical direct current (DC) resistivity measurements, are used to support the hydrostratigraphical model. Results of this research contribute to the explanation of why the aquifer system of the study area is almost uninfluenced by saltwater intrusion, which is otherwise relatively common in coastal aquifers of Vietnam.

Use of System Dynamics to Understand Long-Term Impact of Climate Change on Pavement Performance and Maintenance Cost

An increase in the vulnerability of the nation's roadway network to changes in climatic conditions has become an issue of significant concern. Heavy rainfall and high temperatures are examples of climatic factors that can affect pavement performance and conditions in a detrimental way. Some of these effects, specifically on costs associated with constructing and maintaining roads, may not be significant in the short term but may become significant in the long term. The objective of this study was to present a framework to use system dynamics to understand the long-term impact of climate change on pavement performance and maintenance activity. A system dynamics model was created with available pavement performance and climate change data, and the effects on various key factors, such as pavement life and maintenance cost, were evaluated through simulation. Preliminary results show that the long-term effects of changes in air temperature, rainfall, seawater–level rise, and number of hurricanes on pavement performance are significant and that costs are expected to increase significantly (>160% in 100 years) and nonlinearly. From these findings, recommendations are made for obtaining more accurate and reliable data on relevant climate change factors and for using a system dynamics approach to integrate the multi-disciplinary topics of climate change, pavement design and performance, and economics into comprehensive studies.

Mapping erosion risk under different scenarios of climate change for Aveiro coast, Portugal

Several coastal zones are facing shoreline retreat problems, losing territory due to energetic sea actions, negative sediment transport balances and climate change phenomena. To deal with this problem, efficient tools are necessary to help decision-makers choose the right procedures to follow. These tools should assess, estimate and project scenarios of coastal evolution in a medium-to-long-term perspective. To perform reliable projections, as many variables as possible should be analysed, and the impact of each of these variables on the shoreline evolution should be understood. This study aimed to analyse three climate change phenomena that are considered the most important in a Portuguese west coast stretch (at Aveiro region). The considered phenomena are the wave height increasing due to storms, the wave direction changes and the sea level rise. A shoreline evolution numerical model, long-term configuration, developed to support coastal zone planning and management in relation to erosion problems was applied. This work defined a methodology for classification of risk areas, considering the uncertainty associated with different wave climate sequences on simulations. As a result, different risk maps according to considered climate change effects were obtained, defining areas of high, medium and low risk of territory loss due to erosion. A generalized erosion tendency and shoreline retreat were observed, particularly in the downdrift side of groins. The sea water level rise showed lower impacts in the shoreline evolution than wave direction changes, or wave height increasing, which presents the highest impact.

Impacts of Seawater Rise on Seawater Intrusion in the Nile Delta Aquifer, Egypt

Several investigations have recently considered the possible impacts of climate change and seawater level rise on seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers. All have revealed the severity of the problem and the significance of the landward movement of the dispersion zone under the condition of seawater level rise. Most of the studies did not consider the possible effects of the seawater rise on the inland movement of the shoreline and the associate changes in the boundary conditions at the seaside and the domain geometry. Such effects become more evident in flat, low land, coastal alluvial plans where large areas might be submerged with seawater under a relatively small increase in the seawater level. None of the studies combined the effect of increased groundwater pumping, due to the possible decline in precipitation and shortage in surface water resources, with the expected landward shift of the shore line. In this article, the possible effects of seawater level rise in the Mediterranean Sea on the seawater intrusion problem in the Nile Delta Aquifer are investigated using FEFLOW. The simulations are conducted in horizontal view while considering the effect of the shoreline landward shift using digital elevation models. In addition to the basic run (current conditions), six different scenarios are considered. Scenarios one, two, and three assume a 0.5 m seawater rise while the total pumping is reduced by 50%, maintained as per the current conditions and doubled, respectively. Scenarios four, five, and six assume a 1.0 m seawater rise and the total pumping is changed as in the first three scenarios. The shoreline is moved to account for the seawater rise and hence the study domain and the seaside boundary are modified accordingly. It is concluded that, large areas in the coastal zone of the Nile Delta will be submerged by seawater and the coast line will shift landward by several kilometers in the eastern and western sides of the Delta. Scenario six represents the worst case under which the volume of freshwater will be reduced to about 513 km(3) (billion m(3) ).

Salinization processes in an alluvial coastal lowland plain and effect of sea water level rise

In coastal areas, groundwater and aquifer systems are easily prone to pollution and contamination. Moreover, sea level rises also threaten the viability of many coastal zones and small islands. In the Shiroishi lowland plain, southwestern Kyushu Island of Japan, some environmental problems such as land subsidence and salinity intrusion due to over pumping of groundwater have long been recognized as water problems and become causes for public concern. In this study, an integrated surface and groundwater model was established and applied to the Shiroishi site to simulate groundwater flow hydraulics and predict the salinity intrusion process in the alluvial lowland plain. The simulated results show that groundwater levels in the aquifer greatly vary in response to varying climatic and pumping conditions. It is also found that sea water intrusion would be expected along the coast if the current rates of groundwater exploitation continue. Furthermore, sea water intrusion with a relative rise in sea water level due to aquifer compression and global climatic change was also considered. As a result, sea water intrusion appears to extend much farther in land from the coast compared to a reference case. The study also suggests a possible alternative to mitigate the inverse effects by pumping groundwater.