Spatiality of Ethical Challenges in Use and Management of Groundwater in Coastal Regions, Sri Lanka Ashvin Wickramasooriya and M. M. G. S. Dilini Abstract Agglomeration of anthropogenic activities in coastal zone is remarkable in Sri Lanka as an island nation. Since water is essential for human survival, coastal communities of Sri Lanka utilize surface water as well as groundwater. In this concern, anthropogenic drivers on groundwater contami- nation induced by saltwater intrusion have become critical issue during the recent past. Hence, this study was conducted to identify extent of this issue and its spatial characteristics. Studies carried out during the recent two decades have utilized as database to construct this review paper. According to the study, it has been found out that the major reason associated with saltwater intrusion is overex- traction of groundwater through pumping. The groundwa- ter extraction is concentrated more in Jaffna peninsula as majority of the population is dependent on groundwater for their sustenance. The natural geographical location with micro-climatic setting of lagoons in the area makes the problem a major one. The wet zone coastal stretch has plenty of surface water for potable and irrigation needs, but extracting groundwater raises the improper utilization of water as a resource. Therefore, other than negotiate, this problem between authorities and general public is better and more effective to follow suggested mitigatory mea- sures to overcome future challenges. Keywords Anthropogenic impact Á Coastal management Á Environmental ethics Á Groundwater Á Salinity intrusion 1 Introduction A set of concepts and principles that guide in determining which type of activities help or harmful for sentient crea- tures has implicated as ethics by Richard et al. (2006). As per the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2015), envi- ronmental ethics determines moral relationship of human beings to the environment and its non-human contents. When it focused on the current study, groundwater ethics is the fundamental concept which denotes moral relationship of human beings to the groundwater. Vast array of uses of groundwater is not negligible where water scarcity is an overwhelming issue in the world. There have been identified four key international groundwater issues by Fienen et al. (2016): depletion of groundwater, degradation of water quality, the water-energy nexus, and transboundary water conflicts. Given that, the current study has been narrow down to the groundwater aquifers in coastal regions of Sri Lanka. With the study carried out by Custodio and Bruggeman (1987), it can be proved that there is a saltwater-freshwater interrelationship under natural conditions when aquifer locates near seafront. Moreover, saltwater-freshwater rela- tionship under anthropogenic circumstance also has descri- bed in the same study. Groundwater abstraction with urbanization, industrialization, and extensive irrigation, surface water losses to the ground through extensive water distribution networks, improvement in runoff river infiltra- tion, and establishment of artificial recharge works could be identified as major aspects among those. Therefore, ethical challenges over coastal groundwater use and management are an inevitable concern. Within the South Asian Seas (SAS) region as well as its geographical setting as an island nation, it is imperative to look ethical challenges in coastal groundwater use and management in Sri Lanka. Since coastal community is dependent on groundwater for several needs, it is been necessitating to identify regions where this issue is more A. Wickramasooriya (&) Department of Geography, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka e-mail: awickramasooriya@gmail.com M. M. G. S. Dilini Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 M. Abrunhosa et al. (eds.), Advances in Geoethics and Groundwater Management: Theory and Practice for a Sustainable Development, Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59320-9_29 133