August 2026 Update
It’s Been A Busy Month!
Our committee members have been meeting and greeting with the community, government officials, nonprofits and business leaders, sharing our vision for a stronger water future for Whatcom County.
The feedback from these meetings and presentations is generating a buzz of hope and it appears our goal for the collaborative development of water resource management solutions has support and is gaining traction.
Community Engagement
Steering and Influence committee member, Carl Weimer, presented to the County Council on August 11th, with support from committee members Scott Korthuis and Fred Likkel. After Carl’s presentation the Council unanimously motioned to support for our request for Ecology to play a more active role in helping to implement flood and drought mitigation solutions for Whatcom County.
On August 17th, Water for Whatcom members Scott Korthuis, Greg Ebe, Fred Likkel, Eric Hirst, Rich Appel, Carl Weimer, and Perry Eskridge attended Washington’s Water Future roundtable led by Casey Sixkiller, Director of Ecology, with representatives from the Lummi and Nooksack Tribes and elected officials. There was a productive discussion at the roundtable with the Ecology team noting how prepared and unified Whatcom County’s representatives were.
This was a nice compliment for our community. As you know, Water for Whatcom members have been busy reaching out to elected officials, Lummi and Nooksack Tribal representatives, business and community leaders to build unification around our message of collaboration as this is the fastest way to get solutions implemented to address our complex drought and flooding issues. For example, on August 6th, eight of our members participated in a leadership meeting on Portage Bay, at the invitation of the team at Water Wars (how to avoid). Read all about it on their website here.
On August 18th Mayor of Lynden and committee member, Scott Korthuis, invited Water for Whatcom to present to the Small City Mayors meeting. Jennifer Irwin and Eric Hirst delivered their presentation which spurred productive conversation and garnered support from all members and attendees including elected officials and organizational representatives in the room.
(Now you see why we’re buzzing with hope!).
How Can You Participate?
We urge you to get involved. There’s an education gap and we need your support to help close it. As Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu noted in the Small Cities meeting, “About 400 people know what is happening with the water issues in our community.” We have hundreds of thousands of people to reach because our water issues impact everyone– not just well owners– but people on city water and every person who lives in this county.
One way you can learn more about Whatcom’s Water issues is by attending the interactive Sharing Our Waters free event on Friday, September 4th, between 12pm – 8pm at the Lightcatcher and Old City Hall, Whatcom Museum.
1. At the Lightcatcher Museum find our table and meet Water for Whatcom. We would love to meet you!
2. Upstairs in the Lightcatcher Studio space beginning at 4:15pm, don’t miss three back-to-back panel discussions led by active & experienced community voices we know well.
3. It’s a rare opportunity for public discussion central to our water concerns. The discussions kick off with our friends, Jay Julius and Jeff Bos, and committee members, Perry Eskridge and Rich Appel, discussing our water’s cultural significance, environmental importance, and economic contributions to this region.
4. In the Old City Hall Rotunda room that evening, a film screening and Q&A will be presented by Setting Sun Circle. Learn about the mission of this amazing group and their new downtown building.
September is Water Month!
– Whatcom Water Week is September 12th – 20th. Read all about it here.
– Did you miss our July message? Find it here!
– Stay tuned for a report from the Whatcom Roundtable in our September newsletter!