Purpose and Scope

This report provides both a historical and synoptic (predevelopment to the late 1990s) view of the ground-water hydrologic system in southeastern Florida that is of great importance to water managers and urban and environmental planners. The purposes of this report are to:

• Provide a temporal and spatial overview of changes in land use, population, and water-management systems;
• Evaluate long-term trends in ground-water withdrawal rates for municipal and agricultural supply;
• Examine long-term change in ground-water levels, trends in surface-water flow, and the change in ground-water chloride concentrations;
• Review causal relations between the position of the saltwater interface and water-management practices; and
• Illustrate the impact of urban development on coastal ground-water hydrology and its effect on the shallow marine hydrology.

Maps, graphs, charts, and photographs are presented to illustrate and define historic and present-day hydrologic conditions in the eastern urban and agricultural corridor of southern Florida.