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A Call to End the Conspiracy of Silence on Climate Change

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ShaunP8/01/2012 2:43:07 pm PDT

LALALALALA, not listening…

…Ninety percent of South Florida gets its drinking water from underground supplies, most from the Biscayne aquifer. Pumping too much water from underground supplies can allow saltwater to push in from the coast.

Droughts can make saltwater intrusion worse as pumping to provide drinking water continues while rains don’t come to replenish underground freshwater supplies.

Now South Florida officials are projecting that sea-level rise due to climate change could increase the reach of saltwater that can make water from community wells undrinkable.

That has city and county utilities along the southeast Florida coast exploring expensive alternatives, with costs passed along to ratepayers, to avoid getting cut off from freshwater.

“It is still progressing westward,” Hector Castro, Hallandale Beach public works and utilities director, said. “Eventually all coastal communities will deal with this in some way, shape or form.”

Hallandale Beach, Pompano Beach, Dania Beach, Lantana and Lake Worth are among local cities that in recent years have been most at risk from saltwater intrusion.

But the line of saltwater spreading inland comes close to or reaches cities from Jupiter to Florida City, including West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami, according to the U.S. Geological Survey…

CN: Climate change is starting to hit people’s pocketbooks. Millions in costs for potable water upgrades are coming down the pipe in South Florida…