HISTORY OF HYDROSTRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE IN FLORIDA

The Southeastern Geological Society's Ad Hoc Committee on Florida Hydrostratigraphic Unit Definition (SEGS, 1986) stated “The geologic/hydrogeologic community in Florida has long recognized the inconsistent use of various terms applied to entire aquifer units or portions of them. Terms or phrases such as surficial aquifer, water-table aquifer, sand aquifer, nonartesian aquifer, shallow aquifer, limestone aquifer, Floridan aquifer, upper/lower Floridan aquifer, deep aquifer, secondary artesian aquifer, intermediate aquifer, Hawthorn aquifer, principal aquifer and many others have made the literature difficult to read and units difficult to correlate.” We trace the hydrostratigraphic nomenclature in Florida from the 1800s when the aquifer was simply “the aquifer in the Vicksburg Limestone” to the present day usage

Modern demands for alternative sources of potable water are causing Florida's water managers to revisit the concepts of aquifer and confining unit in light of needs for new sources. In addition, assessments of aquifer vulnerability indicate that many confining units in Florida are leaky and may constitute future water sources.