With a potential increase in the occurrence of major hurricanes making landfall, there is an immediate need to understand their impacts in vulnerable coastal areas. Flooding from heavy rain and ocean storm surge may damage infrastructure and result in the release of sewage and other toxic chemicals into environmental waters. Flood water could also enter groundwater systems and mobilize contaminants to points of exposure. Particularly vulnerable are coastal communities that lack basic water infrastructure and have many potential sources of water pollutants. This study will collect groundwater samples from coastal areas that were flooded after Hurricane Hanna made landfall on the south Texas coast. It will generate necessary data to advance understanding on the impacts to water quality and movement of microbial and chemical contaminants in coastal groundwater systems subjected to catastrophic flooding and input of contaminants after landfall of major storm events. Results will provide data than can inform scientists, public officials, and community members on the spread and distribution of contaminants after flooding from extreme storm events in coastal areas. This information is essential for predicting and mitigating threats, increasing resilience and access to clean water and minimizing health impacts in coastal communities. The study will engage community members from underserved populations, share results with stakeholders, and support and train students from underrepresented groups in STEM fields. It will further prepare students on rapid-response research under challenging circumstances.
The primary objective of this work is to advance knowledge and understanding about the immediate impacts to water quality and contamination in coastal areas subjected to flooding as a result of extremes events. It is hypothesized that contaminant inputs during flooding events can serve as tracers that can be monitored immediately following storms to gain knowledge about groundwater systems. The project will collect data to assess contamination in groundwater systems impacted by coastal flooding after the landfall of a major Hurricane in south Texas, determine the pathways and residence times of contaminants in groundwater following flooding by hurricanes, and quantify post-storm aquifer recharge and transport of contaminants. The proposed work entails collecting groundwater, runoff and river/lake samples from several flooded communities and use molecular and chemical analytical methods to measure and monitor presence and concentration levels of microbial contamination, trace metals, nitrates, hydrocarbons, pesticides and other organic pollutants over a 5-months period following Hurricane Hanna. The data will provide information on spatial and temporal concentrations in relation to flooded areas after the landfall of Hurricane Hanna. Mitigation and prevention efforts can then be designed to explicitly address groundwater contamination. Information from this study will be shared with outreach partners and stakeholders and used to develop factsheets on the health-risks of the identified contaminants and aquifer protection. This can translate to other communities in the US that have been affected by flooding and are facing similar issues. Through data dissemination, the project will educate and engage predominantly communities from underserved populations. The project will support and train students from underrepresented groups and help to broaden participation in STEM.
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.
