Groundwater Resiliency
What?
Just like you balance your household budget with income, savings and expenditures, our water budget is a balance of precipitation, storage, evaporation, and discharge. In Anne Arundel County, we currently have a water budget imbalance because our community withdraws water at a rate that exceeds natural recharge. Addressing this water budget imbalance is a priority for groundwater resiliency and protection of our future drinking water supplies that are naturally stored in underground aquifers. We are currently evaluating innovative approaches to:
Replenish groundwater supplies
Battle the intrusion of saltwater into local aquifers as sea levels rise
Combat potential ground sinking from the dewatering of our aquifers through increased withdrawals
Why?
As our climate continues to change and regional weather patterns become less predictable and more extreme, we expect new strains to affect the sources of water on which we rely. When water seeps into the ground, it creates a reserve that’s less vulnerable to warmer temperatures and drought than surface water in rivers and streams. The County relies on groundwater as its sole source of drinking water supply for both the large regional network and private wells.