New effort seeks solutions for water availability extremes in Whatcom County
A group of environmental, farming, business and governmental interests have formed an organization focused on solving the Nooksack River basin’s boom-and-bust cycle of water availability.
On one level, the new group — Water For Whatcom — can be considered a parallel process to the Department of Ecology lawsuit that is asking a court to decide who has water rights in Whatcom County and how much water they can use.
In a broader sense, however, Water For Whatcom seeks to build a collaborative solution to decades-long water issues in Whatcom County, “while honoring local tribal rights and culture,” according to an emailed statement.
Key members of Water For Whatcom include water advocate Eric Hirst; Fred Likkel, executive director of Whatcom Family Farmers; and environmental advocate Carl Weimer, who is a former member of the Whatcom County Council and former director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a watchdog agency. Also part of the group are Perry Eskridge, governmental affairs director of the Whatcom County Association of Realtors; Lynden Mayor Scott Korthuis; and Dorie Belisle, a retired farmer and founder of Bellewood Fams. They hope to include tribal partners, said Jennifer Irwn of Swell Media Solutions, who is handling publicity.
Likkel told The Bellingham Herald that the group’s purpose is more wide-ranging than water rights. It’s about finding solutions to winter flooding on the Nooksack River and low summer water levels that threaten migrating salmon.
“Not only do we have problems with drought, we have problems with floods. It’s only getting worse through climate change. We need to start talking about how we are going to solve the problem. It’s so easy to focus on what we disagree about. But we need to look at what we agree on. That’s where we find solutions,” Likkel said in a phone interview.
