Join us to help advocate for collaborative water resource management solutions for Whatcom County
Our community faces massive challenges related to water. Increased flooding and drought have impacted our community and it’s predicted to get worse. The legal process of adjudication fails to address these crucially intertwined issues, and the legal process will take decades to play out. Water for Whatcom is a group of local concerned citizens advocating for collaborative solutions outside the courtroom. We cannot wait for the adjudication process; we have crucial needs that need to be addressed today.
Water is essential for all life and our fresh water supply is at risk. The seasonal extremes that are becoming the norm bring too much water in the winter and drought conditions in the summer. This impacts households, salmon habitat, farms and businesses.
With the legal process now underway, we call for attention and timely action for critical water resource management solutions. For example, since 2021, the Nooksack River has had two major flooding events devastating communities, and the clean-up and recovery cost is astronomical. At the same time salmon runs die off during late summer because of decreased water flow and increased temperatures.
By early 2024, reports showed the damages from the 2021 Nooksack flood totaled over a billion dollars, noting that three years later residents still weren’t able to access their homes. While it’s still too early for 2025 flood damage totals, the preliminary numbers account for a minimum of $182 million in infrastructure damage. Yet this will not address all of the water resources issues our community faces. A big picture view is critical for developing complementary strategies.
We urge policymakers to draw lessons from the collaborative framework used in the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan and other watershed-scale initiatives and use them to develop long-term solutions for our community. This requires representatives and stakeholders from Whatcom County’s cities, Tribes, public utility districts, the agricultural and business communities to come together and openly discuss their needs so that agreements can be formed and action can get underway.
Water for Whatcom calls for this action as a supplement to the adjudication process, not a replacement for it. We need a multilateral approach, where we are all willing to compromise, to achieve timely comprehensive solutions that will happen more quickly and cost-effectively outside of a courtroom. Together we can create a more predictable future for everyone in Whatcom County.
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