Florida has been described as ‘ground zero’ for climate change in the United States with coastal communities vulnerable to sea-level rise and water supplies under threat from saline-water intrusion, changes in precipitation amounts and patterns, and temperature-driven increases in demands. Water utilities and regional suppliers are responsible for their own water supply plans and adaptation strategies, which are developed largely by a relatively small group of technical specialists (internal and contracted). Water supply planning is prescribed by the state water governance system and local community planning processes. The degree of engagement of large coastal communities and water utilities and regional water suppliers in Florida with climate change research is generally high. Climate change-induced impacts to water supplies and demands over the common 20-year planning horizon are likely to be small relative to increases in demand caused by projected on-going population growth and normal climatic variation. Water utilities in Florida have been incidentally moving toward more climate-resilient supplies (e.g., brackish groundwater desalination) due to the unavailability of additional permittable, inexpensive fresh groundwater rather than climate change concerns. Climate change will narrow the alternatives for future water-supply development.

Religious and cultural values related to water use and management are important motivation for many people of the world. Although much has been written related to water management and use in Islam, fewer authors have attempted to evaluate water management through the lens of other religions. The common thread of monotheism, specifically worship of the one God of Abraham, binds together the world's largest two religions (Islam and Christianity). Judaism also falls within this monotheistic group and is especially important in the context of Middle Eastern water management. As agriculture consumes approximately 70% of all fresh water used in the world today, proper management of water within its context is of critical and global importance. This paper presents an effort to build consensus from a monotheistic scripture-based perspective related to water management in agriculture. If greater dialog and agreement about water management can be attained within and among monotheists, complex issues related to transboundary water management, reuse and conservation could be resolved with less conflict, creating a shared overall management vision

Climate change will have a significant impact on saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers between now and 2150. Global sea levels are predicted to rise somewhere between 0.5 and 1.8 m. To mitigate sea level rise, coastal aquifers will require intensive management to avoid inland migration of seawater that could impact water supplies. In addition to reducing pumping of freshwater, the construction and operation of salinity barriers will be required in many locations. Eleven types of salinity barriers were investigated, including physical barriers (curtain wall and grout curtains), infiltration canals filled with freshwater paralleling the coastline, injection of freshwater (treated surface water or wastewater), pumping or abstraction barriers, mixed injection and abstraction barriers, combined abstraction, desalination, and recharge (ADR), ADR hybrid barriers using various water sources including desalinated water and treated wastewater, compressed air barriers, aquifer storage and recovery dual use systems, biofilm barriers, and clay swelling or dispersion barriers. Feasibility of the use of each salinity barrier type was evaluated within the context of the most recent projections of sea level changes. Key factors used in the evaluation included local hydrogeology, land surface slope, water use, the rate of sea level rise, technical feasibility (operational track record), and economics.

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) systems can be used within the context of integrated water management to create solutions to multiple objectives. Southwestern Florida is faced with severe environmental problems associated with the wet season discharge of excessive quantities of surface water containing high concentrations of nutrients into the Caloosahatchee River Estuary and a future water supply shortage. A 150,000 m³/day MAR system is proposed as an economic solution to solve part of the environmental and water supply issues. Groundwater modeling has demonstrated that the injection of about 150,000 m³/day into the Avon Park High Permeable Zone will result in the creation of a 1000 m wide plume of fresh and brackish-water (due to mixing) extending across the water short area over a 10-year period. The operational cost of the MAR injection system would be less than $0.106/m³ and the environmental benefits would alone more than cover this cost in the long term. In addition, the future unit water supply cost to the consumer would be reduced from $1 to $1.25/m³ to $0.45 to $0.65/m³.