A team of University of Florida scientists is working on a million-dollar solution to one of South Florida's most urgent environmental problems: saltwater intrusion and flooding driven by sea level rise.

"This is about getting ahead of the problem," Young Gu Her, a UF hydrology professor, said. "We aim to empower local governments with clear options."

Their goal is to create a tool that will allow cities and counties ways to mesh the competing realities of a growing population, rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion into the deep aquifers, and surface flooding.

Southeast Florida faces particular risk. Its flat terrain, porous limestone bedrock, and more than a century of development have left the region with a high water table. Southwest Florida is in nearly the same position: exceptionally flat, close to sea level, and atop porous limestone, which means seawater doesn't wash over land — it pushes inland underground, raising water tables and allowing for saltwater intrusion.

The National Science Foundation provided the $1 million grant, which the researchers will use to study how mangrove restoration, rain gardens, porous pavement, and cisterns may be solutions that will protect groundwater supplies and reduce flooding.

The UF team includes experts in stormwater management, chemistry, agriculture, and economics.

"Saltwater intrusion isn't just a future concern, it's already happening," Her said. "It's not just a science problem, it's a people, food and land problem."

Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.

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