Published Paper

This study by Wm Javan Miner, James K. Adamson, James C. Hasbrouck, Sergio Perez Monforte, and Maria Rodriguez Vera, commissioned by the Government of Haiti and the Inter-American Development Bank, applies gravity and hybrid-source audio-magnetotelluric (HSAMT) geophysical survey methods to the western basin of the Plaine du Nord aquifer near Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city (population over 170,000, with municipal demand projected to reach roughly 35,338 m3/day by 2035). Because well-drilling records are scarce - prior to this study the deepest known well was only 103 m - these non-invasive methods offered a cost-effective way to map subsurface aquifer thickness and structure without drilling. A team of Haitian geoscientists conducted 75 HSAMT soundings and 50 gravity readings across the study area.

The combined results mapped aquifer thickness exceeding 300 m in the coastal zone and identified zones of increased groundwater potential in the deeper alluvium. A 2021 exploratory well drilled to 200 m in Balan, based on these geophysical findings, confirmed the presence of deeper fresh groundwater beneath the previously characterized shallow zone.

Key Takeaway Cost-efficient geophysical methods like gravity and HSAMT can meaningfully improve understanding of Haiti's alluvial aquifers where drilling records are lacking, and they point to deeper groundwater as a confirmed potential resource to help supply the fast-growing Cap-Haitien area.

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Published online 3 June 2022 (Hydrogeology Journal 30:1417-1432); part of the "Advancements in hydrogeological knowledge of Haiti" topical collection