State: Lake Whatcom needs drastic measures

“It will be up to local government leaders to develop strategies and pass laws that improve storm-water management so storm water is absorbed, filtered and released into the lake more naturally, as if most of the development is not there,” the study says.

That will likely take decades and cost millions, although nobody is offering even a rough cost estimate yet. It also means stringent storm-water controls on any new development.

“It’s decades’ worth of money,” said Steven Hood, an Ecology water quality engineer who was a co-author of the study. “We recognize that it’s going to be expensive.”

The report notes that about 3,600 acres already have been developed in the lake’s watershed, which is home to about 13,000 people. Current zoning would allow 10,400 acres to be developed, making room for 28,000 residents.

Development increases the amount of phosphorus running into the lake, because roofs and paved areas shed more water than the forests that once surrounded the lake, Hood said. The rapid runoff from developed areas sweeps phosphorus-laden soil into the lake. Detergents from faulty septic systems and phosphorus in fertilizers can add to the problem.

DETERIORATION NOTED IN 1998

Phosphorus is a mineral that encourages the growth of algae in the water. Algae can be toxic, leading to increased treatment costs to ensure that the lake water is safe for the 96,000 people who drink it. Dead algae also become food for bacteria, which further reduce the lake’s oxygen levels, setting off changes in the lake’s chemistry that release more phosphorus from lake sediments in a vicious cycle.

Deterioration of the lake’s water quality was first noted in 1998, when a reduction in dissolved oxygen in the lake’s depths caused the Department of Ecology to put the lake on its list of impaired water bodies. That listing also triggered the scientific research that led to the study issued Thursday.

Since 1998 the city and county have taken a number of steps to curb pollution of the lake. The county is beginning the process of testing all septic systems and requiring fixes of faulty ones. Phosphorus-containing fertilizers have been banned. Excavation work is banned in the watershed during rainy months, and new developments are required to maintain most of their acreage as natural vegetation.

In 2000, the city created a storm-water utility and began adding charges to customers’ water and utility bills to pay for it. This year, the utility is expected to take in about $6 million. In 2001, the city began charging another fee to utility customers to raise millions for purchase of undeveloped land in the lake watershed.

But city and county officials agree that much more will need to be done.

“There’s going to be some pretty severe constraints on construction,” Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike said. “Building more development before we’ve got the answers seems very counterproductive to me.”

Pike also observed that the available systems for treating storm water may not be effective enough to reach the ambitious goals outlined in Ecology’s study. But the city is prepared to make strenuous efforts to protect its drinking water supply.

“On its face, it does seem like a very high bar,” Pike said. “Ignoring it doesn’t really seem tenable either.”

Jon Hutchings, Whatcom County’s assistant director of public works, said the county’s elected officials will face some tough decisions on dealing with demand for additional watershed development while finding ways to pay for new stormwater controls.

Rather than building expensive systems to treat stormwater runoff before it is discharged into the lake, Hutchings said it may make more sense to reduce that runoff, house by house and ditch by ditch, making modifications to get more water to soak into the ground.

“The hope is to change how people do business,” Hutchings said. Ecology’s Hood agreed.

“The only way we can get to these kinds of limits is to put the storm water back in the ground,” he said.