Overview

     The groundwater of the Virginia Coastal
    Plain is a unique and valuable natural
    resource. According to the U.S. Geological
    Survey, more than 125 million gallons of
    water are pumped every day  from the
    permeable sedimentary layers and lenses
    called aquifers, supplying roughly one
    million persons.

       The Virginia Coastal Plain is a near level  
    area of approximately 13,000 square miles,
    bounded on the west by the Fall Line (close
    by Route I-95), on the north by the Potomac
    River, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and
    on the south by the border with North
    Carolina. Several large rivers, including the
    Rappahannock, York, and James, cross the
    plain from northwest to southeast, creating a
    geographic feature known as the Tidewater.
    The Chesapeake Bay, a long, north-south
    estuary, separates the peninsula of the
    Eastern Shore from mainland Virginia.

       Although the groundwater supply of the
    Virginia Coastal Plain is vast, it is not
    limitless. Whereas the groundwater of the
    shallow surficial aquifer is replenished by
    precipitation falling to the land surface, the
    deeper artesian aquifers are, for all practical
    purposes, a non-renewable resource. Since
    the beginning of the 20th century, artesian
    water levels have declined as much as 200
    feet at some localities. Currently, water
    levels are falling at a rate of 1.2 to 3.0 feet per
    year. At this rate disruptions in groundwater
    supply will become a common occurrence.

      As the groundwater of the Virginia Coastal
    Plain shrinks, more and more of the region's
    water supply will have to come from non-
    traditional sources, such as desalination and
    water recycling and reuse.

      For a description of the groundwater system
    of the Virginia Coastal Plain and the problems
    of its shrinking supply,  click here.
 
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Click on image for a larger view.
Satellite view of the Virginia
and Maryland Coastal Plain
(courtesy of Goddard Space Science Center)

Welcome to the GroundwaterVirginia web page.

This is your link to information about the
groundwater supply of the Virginia Coastal Plain.
VIRGINIA

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PLAIN
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