Impacts of repeated coastal flooding on soil and groundwater following managed dike realignment

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2023-10, Vol.893, p.164957-164957, Article 164957
• Main Authors: Tackley, Hayden A., Kurylyk, Barret L., Lake, Craig B., Lapen, David R., van Proosdij, Danika
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: agricultural land; agricultural productivity; Agriculture; climate; crop production; crops; environment; estuaries; Estuary; freshwater; geophysics; groundwater; land use; saline water; Salinity; salt marshes; Saltwater intrusion; sea level; sediment deposition; sediments; Soil; soil electrical conductivity; soil salinity; soil water; spring; water content
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164957

Coastal defense structures (e.g., dikes, seawalls) protect vulnerable communities along marine coastlines and estuaries from the physical and chemical influences of adjacent water bodies. These structures are susceptible to overtopping or breaching by tides and waves, with risks amplified by climate change-induced sea-level rise. Repeated inundation by saline water can contaminate freshwater resources and salinize soil, impacting land-use activities, including agricultural productivity. Managed ecosystem-based dike realignment and salt marsh restoration can provide alternatives to traditional coastal adaptation approaches. We assess the changes to soil salinity at a managed dike realignment project prior to the transformation from a diked terrestrial environment to an estuarine environment. Baseline data are compared to conditions following 8–10 months of intermittent flooding at spring tides. Results show that an increase in salinity occurred over the entire site in the shallow subsurface, with the most significant contamination occurring in low-lying areas. Bulk soil electrical conductivity (salinity proxy) measured from geophysical surveys increased from the previous freshwater condition of ∼300 μS/cm to over 6000 μS/cm following 1.8 m depth) were not impacted over the time scale of this research. This study demonstrates that intermittent shallow flooding can rapidly increase moisture content and soil salinity in surficial sediments and, in turn, adversely impact conditions suitable for agricultural crop production. The realignment zone serves as an engineered analog of coastal flooding, presenting an opportunity to investigate how low-lying coastal environments may experience regular flooding in the future due to sea-level rise and intensifying coastal storms. [Display omitted] •Episodic, shallow coastal flooding causes rapid soil and porewater salinization.•Terrestrial plants were impacted by saline flooding and root zone saturation.•Geophysical surveys were used to assess the spatial extent of salinization.•Analysis revealed the extent of contamination is confined to surficial sediments.•Groundwater levels were tida