Ridge. The problem covers more than the protection of the Miami well field; it involves the preservation of as much as possible of the still uncontaminated parts of the aquifer in the coastal areas so that existing and future water supplies in these areas may be safeguarded, it is a countywide problem involving the investments of home-owners and property-holders outside the boundaries of the municipalities.
The maintenance of ground water levels at an average yearly stage
of two and one-half feet or more above mean sea level can be affected only by control of the canals which drain Dade County. Because of development subsequent top and made possible by drainage operations, it is not to be expected that original water levels can be restored, that parts of the aquifer now salted will be reclaimed, or that springs will again issue along the western shore of Biscayne Bay. The greatest degree of water control~ that can be effected through the regulation of the canals without endangering developed activities probably will not prevent some further inland movement of the-salt water front but will preserve a substantially large area that otherwise would be lost to encroaching salt water.
In a control program the Miami and Tamiami Canals will be of greatest importance, to the City of Miami principally because of location of the Miami well field between their converging reaches. The Coral Gables Canal will be important, too, because of its strategic location immediately south of the well field area, and also because it is one of the larger and deeper waterways that allows salt water access to an ever-widening and lengthening zone along its course. To Dade County and the rest of the municipalities within it, the other unregulated canals are very important, especially Little River, Biscayne, Snake, and Snapper Creek Canals.