Scientists have identified a vast freshwater aquifer stretching along the US East Coast, from New Jersey to Maine, buried deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. The discovery builds on an unexpected find nearly 50 years ago, when a US government vessel drilling for minerals and hydrocarbons struck fresh water off the northeastern United States.
This summer, Expedition 501, a global research collaboration, drilled off Cape Cod and extracted thousands of samples, confirming the reservoir's existence. Co-chief scientist Brandon Dugan, a geophysicist at the Colorado School of Mines, said the team looked in 'one of the last places you would probably look for fresh water on Earth.' The expedition collected nearly 50,000 litres of water for analysis to determine its origins, whether from glaciers, connected groundwater systems, or a combination.
The potential is enormous, but hurdles remain, including extraction feasibility, ownership disputes, and environmental impact. The United Nations projects that global fresh water demand will exceed supply by 40% within five years. Rising sea levels are souring coastal freshwater sources, while data centres for AI and cloud computing consume vast amounts of water. In Virginia alone, a quarter of all power goes to data centres, a share expected to nearly double in five years.
Expedition 501, a $25 million collaboration backed by the US National Science Foundation and the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling, found fresh or nearly fresh water at greater depths than anticipated, suggesting a larger supply than initial estimates. Project manager Jez Everest of the British Geological Survey noted that while undersea freshwater phenomena are known, no previous research project had systematically drilled for it.
