Salty Drinking Water?
Scroll to learn moreA Saltier Source
Most of the 5 million people in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, the Florida Keys, and Palm Beach drink water from the Biscayne Aquifer. The aquifer is the ground water flowing through the limestone and sandy soils of south Florida. It’s just a few feet underground. And it’s getting saltier.
As water is pulled out of the Biscayne Aquifer for public water, agriculture, or industry, it pulls salt water in from the ocean to take its place. The pressure of sea level rise also pushes salt water into the aquifer—at an increasing rate.
The Biscayne Aquifer near Miami
Slide through the maps to see how salt water has encroached into the Biscayne Aquifer over the last 100 years.
"Sea level rise is our reality in Miami Beach."- Philip Levine, Miami Beach Mayor
Sea Level Rise at the Everglades
See how the restoration of the Everglades will help us mitigate sea level rise.
Flooded by the Tide
In south Florida, you can find streets flooded on sunny days—due to sea level rise.
In Miami when tidewaters rise up through the drainage system and combine with storms, flooding causes traffic jams. And it’s happening more and more often. (Photo by Gui Carvalho.)
In Fort Lauderdale, tidal flooding combined with storm surge eroded the beach and crushed highway A1A. (Photo by Robert Gordano)