TITLE:
Implications of Declining Ground Water and Water Quality in the US Southeastern Coastal Plain Ecoregion and Areawide Environmental Impact Statement Required for Mining in the Greater Okefenokee Swamp Basin—Part 1
AUTHORS:
Sydney T. Bacchus, Sergio Bernardes, Marguerite Madden
KEYWORDS:
1994 Government Accountability Report for Ecosystem Management, Abuse of Economics, Environmental Laws and Regulations, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Resource Sustainability
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.11 No.3,
March
31,
2023
ABSTRACT: Karst aquifers occur worldwide and exhibit groundwater flow responses
that differ considerably from aquifers lacking fractures, bedding planes, and
other karst conduits where significant and rapid groundwater flow can occur.
The regional, karst Floridan aquifer system underlies the United States (US)
Southeastern Coastal Plain Physiographic Region and exhibits hydrologic
interconnections with overlying surficial aquifers and throughout other zones
of the aquifer system, as is characteristic of other karst aquifer systems.
Anthropogenic groundwater declines in this regional karst aquifer system have
been documented in published literature for decades, but the impacts of those
declines in this coastal plain region and the embedded ecosystems that provide
essential and critical habitat for native, endemic, and federally endangered
and threatened species have not been considered previously. Those anthropogenic
groundwater declines reduce surfacewater levels and flows due to the capture of
both groundwater and overland flow of surfacewater, resulting in induced
recharge through semi-confining zones and interbasin flow through fractures and
other karst conduits. This case study identifies examples from the Greater
Okefenokee Swamp Basin study area and comparison areas of how those declines
result in loss of historic base flow to surface waters and other capture of
surface waters, ultimately increasing saltwater intrusion. Those results alter
and degrade the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the nation’s
waters, in violation of the US Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972. Historic
groundwater declines from mining and other anthropogenic groundwater
withdrawals from this regional karst aquifer system already threaten the survival and recovery of federally endangered and threatened species, as well as existing and proposed critical habitat for those
species within this regional extent, in violation of the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) of 1973. This case study and its companion publication (Part 2) appear to
be the first to provide scientific support for this regional karst aquifer
system as the unifying factor in habitat responses to irreversible groundwater
impacts on aquatic and marine ecosystems. These adverse impacts strongly
suggest that the extent of the regional Floridan aquifer system should be
designated as the Southeastern Coastal Plain Ecoregion for the purpose of
managing natural resources. Mining activities continue to expand in our study
area, which is the Greater Okefenokee Swamp Basin. Despite that fact, no
comprehensive Areawide Environmental Impact Statement (AEIS), similar to the
AEIS required for phosphate mining within the Central Florida Phosphate
District (CFPD) approximately a decade ago
has been conducted for any of the numerous mining projects that are occurring
and are proposed within the Greater Okefenokee Swamp Basin. This case
study also provides examples of why a comprehensive AEIS is essential to
consider all of the adverse direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of those
mining activities to the CWA, the ESA, and the irreversible losses to local
economies, because federal agencies responsible for considering those adverse
impacts rely on public comments to identify those
adverse impacts. The mining activities authorized throughout the regional
Floridan aquifer system under Category 44 Nationwide Permits (NWP)
result in the same type of adverse impacts as the mining activities evaluated
under Individual Permits in that region. Therefore, those Category 44 NWP mining activities also should be required to obtain
Individual Permits and be evaluated under an AEIS in the Greater Okefenokee
Swamp Basin. This case study also describes how Florida’s assumption of the CWA
Section 404 regulatory authority in 2020 severs four sub-basins within the Greater Okefenokee Swamp Basin
study area at the state line between Florida and Georgia.