Sebastiaan Huizer

What is the impact of the Sand Engine on fresh groundwater resources? Most coastal regions around the world rely on groundwater as their primary source of fresh water, but at many sites this groundwater is threatened by coastal flooding. One of the potential responses to protect (vulnerable) coastal fresh groundwater resources, is to actively protect the coast against erosion and flooding with beach nourishments (such as the Sand Engine). However, this raises some questions: What is the potential increase in fresh groundwater resources over a long period? What is the impact of tides, waves and storms on the fresh groundwater lens? What were the changes in the volume of fresh groundwater in the study area since the construction of the Sand Engine, and which processes drove these changes? The (partial) answers to these and other questions are written in my PhD thesis.… (mehr)