Leanne Morgan
University of Canterbury | Waterways Centre
Leanne is Associate Professor in Groundwater Hydrology at the Waterways Centre, University of Canterbury. She is interested in understanding how hydrologic systems function, specifically the groundwater component. Her research areas include groundwater dynamics in coastal regions, groundwater - surface water interaction, and landscape restoration.
She characterises field systems using various methods and parameters including pressure, conductivity and natural tracers. She tests processes and performs sensitivity analyses using analytic, numeric and physical modelling.
Leanne is an Associate Editor for ‘Hydrogeology Journal and Journal of Hydrology Regional Studies’, the flagship journal of the International Association of Hydrogeologists.
She is also Principal Investigator in the following MBIE Endeavour research programs:
* Subsurface processes in braided rivers - hyporheic exchange and leakage to groundwater (2019 - 2024)
* Transforming coastal lowland systems threatened by sea-level rise into prosperous communities (2021 - 2026)
Impacts of sea-level rise on coastal aquifers
Coastal aquifers have long been valued for their contribution to ecosystems and water security. However, this is threatened by sea-level rise induced groundwater salinisation. Additionally, sea-level rise will cause water tables to rise in some areas, posing a hazard to agricultural production and infrastructure. While teaching groundwater hydrology at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury, I have observed several recurring misconceptions relating to sea-level rise impacts on groundwater and in this talk I will address these with the aid of a Jupyter Notebook webtool.
Additionally, highlights from international and local coastal aquifer research programs will provide broad context for the more than ten presentations on coastal aquifer response to sea-level rise at this conference and hopefully spark conversations around adaptation and collaborative solutions.
Morgan, L.K. (2024) Sea-level rise impacts on groundwater: exploring some misconceptions with simple analytic solutions. Hydrogeology Journal 32, 1287–1294, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-024-02791-1