Numerical simulation of seawater intrusion to coastal aquifers and brine water/freshwater interaction in south coast of Laizhou Bay, China

Seawater intrusion and brine water/freshwater interaction have significantly affected agriculture, industry and public water supply at Laizhou Bay, Shandong Province, China. In this study, a two-dimensional SEAWAT model is developed to simulate the seawater intrusion to coastal aquifers and brine water/fresh water interaction in the south of Laizhou Bay. This model is applied to predict the seawater intrusion and brine water/freshwater interface development in the coming years. The model profile is perpendicular to the coastal line with two interfaces, freshwater-saline water interface near the shore and inland brine water-saline water-seawater interface. The hydrogeological parameters in the SEAWAT-2000 model are calibrated by the head and salinity measurements. The precipitation infiltration coefficient, boundary conditions and thicknesses of aquifers are studied in a sensitivity analysis. The predicted results indicate that equivalent freshwater head in shallow freshwater-saline water area will decline 2.0 m by the end of the forecasting period, caused by groundwater over-pumping for farmland irrigation. The groundwater head in the brine-saline water area will also decrease about 1.8 m by the end of forecasting period, caused by excessive brine mining. Salinity finally decreases below 105 g/L in the brine area, but increases in other areas and contaminates fresh groundwater resources.