Water Quality (Wakulla Spring - Apalachee Bay, USA)

Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm on September 26, 2024, bringing 12-16 inches of rainfall and a 9-feet storm surge to Florida’s Gulf Coast. During hurricanes, the combined effects of excessive rainfall, storm surge, and flooding can elevate groundwater recharge and discharge, increase saltwater intrusion, and mobilize contaminants from the vadose zone and aquifers. The overall objective of this project is to assess the immediate and long-term effects of hurricanes on the salinization and recharge-discharge processes, and how these processes affect nutrient geochemistry of Florida’s Gulf Coast aquifers. We will focus on Wakulla Spring-Apalachee Bay transect, the landfall site of Hurricane Helene, as well as a region where groundwater is central to natural ecosystems and human need, emphasizing the importance of investigating the impact of extreme events to aquifer systems. Our central hypothesis is that hurricane induces significant changes in coastal aquifer systems by increasing salinization, enhancing groundwater fluxes, and altering nutrient fluxes and speciation. To test this hypothesis, the following two specific objectives are proposed: (1) Evaluate the degree of aquifer salinization and how it affects nutrient speciation, and (2) Quantify groundwater discharge and nutrient fluxes. All research activities will be conducted post-hurricane and during baseflow conditions.