Constraints to Managing Interstate Aquifer

Abstract

Many considerations exist when attempting to manage a groundwater system that flows across interstate boundaries. The legal, institutional, and technical constraints managing one such system, the Coastal Plain Aquifer System of the Delaware River Basin, are described. A ground‐water management plan aimed at addressing the two biggest threats to the quality of the interstate aquifer system, synthetic organic contamination and salinity intrusion, is presented. The recommended plan includes provisions for locating future ground‐water withdrawals away from stressed areas; developing a surface water supply as part of a conjunctive use scheme; and developing new well fields in the phreatic portions of unstressed areas. The plan also contains a set of policy recommendations aimed at addressing legal and institutional problems.