Water is a common thread that runs throughout our community in Whatcom County, regardless of one's occupation, interests, faith or political perspective; it is essential to all aspects of our lives.
The role of a clean and predictable water supply is essential to a functioning and healthy environment, yet its role in all aspects of the community - environment, economy and culture - is not always recognized.
The Whatcom Watershed Information Network, a network of representatives from various organizations, agencies and businesses realized this disconnect and set out three years ago to begin planning an organized event that would encourage collaboration among active stakeholders in local water resource issues as well as involve the community in a focused way that celebrates and recognizes our interdependence with water and each other.
The outcome was Whatcom Water Week.
Whatcom Water Week, now in its second year, is a week-long slate of events, activities, projects and outreach efforts that work to bring information and awareness of our reliance on water to citizens of the county in various venues.
Its primary goal is to celebrate and promote an appreciation for the environmental, economic, spiritual and cultural importance of Whatcom County's water resources hence the slogan "Our Community, Our Water."
The ideology behind Whatcom Water Week provides citizens the opportunity to build a stronger "sense of place."
By definition, sense of place is the way places take on special meanings for people.
It is created by the human experience in a landscape and building upon local knowledge and folklore.
Generally, the characteristics of a place fall into the following categories: culture, traditions/history, environment, services/recreation, economy and community attitudes.
Water weaves its way through each category and further supports the idea that a strong identity and relationship with our local water resources is important for its protection.
Whatcom Water Week will be offering more than 43 events and activities for community members to participate in and create new experiences with water from learning how to sustainably forage wild foods in the Salish Sea and tasting chocolate ocean pudding, taking a tour of an anaerobic digester that helps improve water quality, listening to local poets flow words about water, catching a film series about restoration projects, creating a water cycle beaded bracelet or touring wetland conservation properties by bicycle.
This is just a sampling of experiences being offered during Whatcom Water Week.
Wendell Berry classically wrote, "If you don't know where you are, you don't know who you are."
Whatcom County faces a number of critical challenges associated with our fresh and marine water resources, and success in surmounting these challenges will be greater with collaboration and coordination among community members, governments, nonprofits, schools, and businesses.
Whatcom Water Week is an avenue for community members, governments, non-profits, schools and businesses to come together and realize who they are through their personal appreciation of and identity with "our water."
Emily Resch is a water conservation specialist for the Birch Bay Water and Sewer District and the city of Blaine. She is on the steering committee for Whatcom Watershed Information Network and actively involved in organizing Whatcom Water Week. For more information, visit whatcomwin.org.
