Conference: Salt contamination of water supplies in tidal rivers

获得清洁和安全的饮用水对公共健康和经济繁荣至关重要。美国约70%的饮用水来自地表水，包括河口的潮汐淡水地区。干旱、海平面上升、分水岭和港湾工程以及土地利用的变化，由于盐碱化的风险增加，正在日益威胁沿海地区的这种供水。这种风险延伸到从沿海地区提取水，用于热电、灌溉和工业生产。该项目将汇集一个由研究人员和利益攸关方组成的跨学科团队，以评估潮汐河流供水受到盐污染的风险，综合目前的认识，并确定知识差距。更好地了解气候和其他人为因素对供水的影响，将对加强水利基础设施的复原力和保护公众健康具有重要意义。将组织一系列虚拟网络小组讨论和面对面研讨会，以评估关于这一新兴主题的科学。将讨论和综合美国和世界各地潮汐河流咸水入侵和淡水盐碱化的案例研究。讲习班将使从事感潮河流供水盐分污染跨学科方面工作的不同研究人员的国内和国际社区汇聚一堂，有资深和职业生涯早期的科学家、博士后研究员和研究生参加。讲习班将包括与参与水管理、保护、饮用水处理业务的利益攸关方接触的外联活动，与会者将来自依赖淡水来源的农业、工业、市政和发电部门。总体目标是双重的：(1)发表一篇系统的综述论文，以综合当前对这一跨学科主题的理解，并确定主要的知识差距；(2)制作一份前瞻性的研讨会报告，以创建研究愿景，并指导未来关于沿海地区供水的盐污染的研究活动。该奖项由水文科学和物理海洋学项目共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Access to clean and safe drinking water is critical to public health and economic prosperity. About 70% of U.S. drinking water comes from surface waters, including the tidal fresh regions of estuaries. Drought, sea level rise, watershed and port & harbor engineering, and changes in land-use are increasingly threatening such water supplies in coastal regions due to increasing risk of salinization. The risk extends to water extraction from the coastal zones for thermoelectric power, irrigation, and industrial production. This project will bring together an interdisciplinary team of researchers and stakeholders to assess the risks of salt contamination of water supplies in tidal rivers, synthesize the current understanding and identify knowledge gaps. A better understanding of climatic and other anthropogenic effects on the water supplies will be valuable for bolstering the resilience of water infrastructure and protecting public health.A series of virtual web panels and an in-person workshop will be organized to assess the science on this emerging topic. Case studies of saltwater intrusion and freshwater salinization in tidal rivers in the US and around the world will be discussed and synthesized. The workshop will bring together national and international communities of diverse researchers working on the interdisciplinary aspects of salt contamination of water supplies in tidal rivers, involving senior and early-career scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. The workshop will include outreach activities through engagement with stakeholders involved in water management, conservation, drinking water treatment operations, and will include participants from the agricultural, industrial, municipal and power generation sectors that rely on access to freshwater sources. The overall goals are twofold: (1) publish a systematic review paper to synthesize current understanding of this interdisciplinary topic and identify major knowledge gaps; (2) produce a forward-looking workshop report to create a research vision and guide future research activities on salt contamination of water supplies in coastal zones.This award is co-funded by the Hydrologic Sciences and Physical Oceanography programs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.