Offshore freshened groundwater (OFG) is an important but underexplored water resource, especially in coastal regions vulnerable to freshwater scarcity. However, ongoing climate change and sea-level rise pose significant risks to these offshore reserves, potentially leading to saltwater intrusion and loss of potable groundwater. This STSM aims to assess how different sea-level rise scenarios will impact OFG reserves, identify the most vulnerable regions, and explore the potential role of OFG in climate adaptation strategies. Sea level rise can affect the OFG resources in many ways. First of all, it can be the reason of compression and displacements due to the increasing hydrostatic pressure. Due to increase of hydrostatic pressure, Groundwater flow paths might shift, altering recharge/discharge dynamics. Secondly, the OFG can be affected by saltwater intrusion. Increasing sea level will cause salinization in high-permeability formations and thus can make the fresh groundwater brackish or saline. Thirdly, the sea level increase, can cause the reduction of freshwater recharge and expansion of saltwater wedges as some of the Some offshore aquifers are connected to coastal groundwater systems. In this STSM, It is aimed to search for the potential effects of sea level rise regarding to the OFG by using GIS approaches. For this purpose it is planned to use different data sources to create a vulnerability map.
