U.S. Department of the Interior
US Geological Survey
WRI 85-4231

The principal source of freshwater for Cape Coral, Fla., is the upper limestone of the Hawthorn Formation, locally called the Hawthorn aquifer. This aquifer, which is within the intermediate aquifer system, has been contaminated by downward intrusion of saline water from the surficial aquifer system and by upward intrusion from the lower limestone of the Hawthorn Formation. The lower limestone is within the Floridan aquifer system and is under high artesian pressure. Much of the intrusion has occurred through open wellbores where steel casings are short or where casings have collapsed because of corrosion. Saline-water contamination of the upper limestone unit due to downward intrusion from the surficial aquifer system is most severe in the southern and eastern parts of Cape Coral; contamination due to upward intrusion has occurred in many areas throughout Cape Coral. Intrusion is amplified in areas of heavy water withdrawals and large water-level declines.

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