Innovative Geoengineering Solutions to Protect Land and Freshwater Resources from Climate Change Impacts in Vulnerable Coastal Areas

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, coastal areas are the most populated regions worldwide and are characterized by a constantly precarious state of equilibrium between sea and land involving land, surface and transitional water bodies and freshwater aquifer-related problems.

Climate change severely impacts land and freshwater resources in coastal areas due to rising sea levels and changes in the frequency and magnitude of severe storms and related storm surges; this causes an increase in coastal erosion flood risk that can lead to permanent inundation and loss of low-lying systems (e.g., deltas and coastal lagoons and subsiding areas) and hydrogeological instability.

Coastal flooding due to storm surge and sea level rise (SLR), together with pumping-induced subsidence, can worsen saltwater intrusion in freshwater systems, further endangering unique and diverse ecosystems (wetlands, estuaries, lagoons, and humid zones that are partially or entirely dependent on groundwater regimes).

Traditional engineering solutions are currently employed (e.g., seawalls, physical subsurface barriers, revetments, and breakwaters, managed aquifer recharges, and aquifer storage and recovery) to protect coastal land and freshwater resources.

To solve multiple issues at once, it would be desirable to find new innovative solutions able to manage multiple coastal hazards and adapt to climate change impacts while also being in harmony with the environment.

Geo-engineering solutions include (1) creating living shorelines and beach nourishment to absorb storm waves, protect against erosion and enhance water quality, and (2) restoration of wetlands and creation of recharge lagoons to absorb floodwater, reduce storm impacts, filter pollutants from runoff, recharge the aquifers and prevent them from the risk of saltwater intrusion.

In this Special Issue, we assess the current evidence for the efficacy of geo-engineering (nature-based) vs. artificial land and coastal aquifer protection measures and discuss future research needs and scenarios.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Cherubini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• coastal aquifers
• sea level rise
• subsidence
• seawater intrusion
• managed aquifer recharge
• strategic aquifer recharge and recovery