Coastal zones are among the worlds most densely populated and economically important areas, but these factors put pressure on the often limited available freshwater resources. Global change will undoubtedly increase this pressure through the combined effects of increased population, economic development, rising sea levels, increased evapotranspiration, over-extraction and the salinization of coastal aquifers, decreasing river discharges, and accelerating land subsidence.Saline groundwater exfiltration is a common problem in the coastal zone of the Netherlands, but the hydrological processes and