The history of SWIM

Salt Water Intrusion Meetings (SWIMs) have been held since 1968. The first one was convened by the late Professor Dr. W. Richter, who invited some German, Dutch and Danish colleagues to his institute in Hanover, Germany, to discuss saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers. He felt that the three countries had similar problems in this field and that an exchange of experience would be useful. After this meeting, it was decided that there should be a follow-up meeting. The following five meetings where organized by countries located around the North Sea (1970, Vogelenzang, the Netherlands; 1972, Copenhagen, Denmark; 1974, Ghent, Belgium, 1977, Medmenham, UK; and 1979, Hanover, Germany). The main topics of these meetings were the exploration of salt water in groundwater reservoirs by geophysical surveys, geophysical well logging, and the chemistry of groundwater samples. The phenomenon of groundwater salinization was mainly treated with analytical models in view of the increasing water demand in the coastal plain. However, some inland problems with deep saline water were also considered.

The number of meeting participants increased steadily over the years. Also the number of contributions coming from countries not bordering the North Sea became larger. As a consequence the two following SWIMs were organized in Sweden, a country bordering the East Sea (Uppsala, 1981) and in Italy, a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea (Bari, 1983). From that moment on, it was generally accepted that SWIM could be organized by any European country with important salt water problems. After a short return of SWIM to its cradle (1986, Delft, the Netherlands and 1988, Ghent, Belgium) SWIM started being held all over Europe (1990, Danzig, Poland; 1992, Barcelona, Spain; 1994, Cagliari, Italy; 1996, Malmö, Sweden; 1998, Ghent, Belgium; 2000, Miedziezdroje, Poland; 2002, Delft, Netherlands; 2004, Cartagena, Spain).

During all these years, the scope of SWIM changed progressively and enlarged considerably, from the pure exploitation of coastal and continental aquifers that may be affected by salt water to all aspects of a sustainable development of the groundwater resources, taking into account all technical and managerial implementation means to protect and restore the water bodies and the environment. Today, the number of disciplines involved with salt water intrusion is still growing. The categories in which the published papers were grouped in the proceedings shifted continuously. During the last several meetings there has been a prominence of modeling studies. Geological, geophysical, hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical and isotopic research were described as providing the data for the modeling work. The multidisciplinary nature of the research involved with data collection and with modeling became increasingly important and is expected to continue in the future.

At the last three SWIMs, the number of participants reached the maximum critical number for an informal meeting with no parallel sessions, organized by a very loose contact group of specialists on saline and coastal aquifers, from mostly European countries. However, the number of participants from other parts of the world (North America, South America, North Africa, Near and Middle East, Asia and Australia) increased. In Cartagena, there was the first participation of some SWICA advocates. The SWICA group, which stands for Salt Water Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers, was formed to address salt water intrusion at the global scale. The first SWICA meeting was held in 2001 in Essaouira, Morocco, and was followed by a second event in 2003 in Merida, Mexico. Many SWIM advocates attended both meetings. At the 2004 meeting in Cartagena, the direct links between SWIM and SWICA were strengthened and so, it was decided to organize the first SWIM-SWICA International Joint Salt Water Intrusion Conference in 2006, in Cagliari, Italy, This joint conference was the 19th SWIM and the 3rd SWICA. At this first joint meeting it was decided to merge both groups under the SWIM name and hold the 20th SWIM in 2008 in Florida, USA. The 21st SWIM was held in San Miguel, on the Azores (Portugal). SWIM will continue to be held every two years. Subsequent meetings will be alternately held outside and inside of Europe.

List of previous meetings

22. 2012 Buzios, Brazil
21. 2010 S. Miguel, Azores, Portugal
20. 2008 Naples, Florida
19. 2006 Cagliari, Italy
18. 2004 Cartagena, Spain
17. 2002 Delft, The Netherlands
16. 2000 Miedzyzdroje, Poland
15. 1998 Ghent, Belgium
14. 1996 Malmo, Sweden
13. 1994 Cagliari, Italy
12. 1992 Barcelona, Spain
11. 1990 Danzig, Poland
10. 1988 Ghent, Belgium
9. 1986 Delft, The Netherlands
8. 1983 Bari, Italy
7. 1981 Upsala, Sweden
6. 1979 Hanover, Germany
5. 1977 Medmenham, UK
4. 1974 Ghent, Belgium
3. 1972 Copenhagen, Denmark
2. 1970 Vogelenzang, The Netherlands
1. 1968 Hanover, Germany