On Saturday February 4 we kicked off the spring Digital Wave Saturday Design Studio. This semester, groups will develop 3D virtual world exhibits of south Florida’s waterways, from the Kissimmee River and the Upper Chain of Lakes, through Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, mangrove coasts, and out to sea and the coral reefs. The class will focus on how these systems are connected, and how climate change might impact them in the future. This week, we started off by creating models of aquifers, which are natural underground water reservoirs. We learned that the Biscayne Aquifer in south Florida is an example of an unconfined aquifer – the top portion is the water table and it merges with Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. This means that the water supply can be easily contaminated. It also means that the more water we use, and the higher the sea levels rise, the more salt water will intrude into the wells which provide us with fresh water. So who’s on board with us to conserve water?