BC Pollution Fouls Whatcom Waterways; Farmers Demand WA, Canadian Leaders Take Action

‘Massive’ bacterial counts–as much as 260 times the allowable limit–threaten shellfish, endangered salmon despite Whatcom farmers’ efforts to protect water quality in Nooksack River, tributaries (LYNDEN, Wash.) In a new letter to Washington state, tribal and Canadian officials, farmers in Whatcom County are shedding light on a troubling trend of ...

Full letter from Whatcom Family Farmers, North Lynden Watershed Improvement District on BC Pollution Concerns

Governor Jay Inslee Office of the Governor PO Box 40002 Olympia, WA 98504-0002 Honourable David Eby Office of the Premier PO Box 9041 Stn Prov Govt Victoria, BC V8W 9E1 June 5, 2023 To Governor Jay Inslee and Honourable David Eby, This is to call your attention to an urgent ...

Gov’t Memo: BC must work to resolve pollution discharge into US waters in Whatcom County

In a June 5 memorandum, the Whatcom Clean Water Program, a partnership of federal, state and local governments, detailed concerns about pollution from BC entering Whatcom County streams at the international border, causing "alarmingly higher" levels of pollution than seen in other nearby areas in the Nooksack River watershed. This ...

Ecology’s Water “Solutions Showcase” Highlights Keys to Success in Yakima Basin

Countering Ecology’s focus on adjudication in Whatcom, leaders in the Yakima Integrated Water Plan explain cooperation and trust are essential to resolving water issues and show how litigation “stymied” progress on solving Yakima Basin issues for decades (LYNDEN, Wash.) The State Department of Ecology sponsored a “Solutions Showcase” on ...

Nooksack River water management solutions must address twin problems

Whatcom County routinely experiences widespread flooding in the winter months. But this past late fall and winter was one of the worst on record and caused an estimated $1 billion in damages in nearby Abbotsford, BC and about $100 million in damages and one death in Whatcom County. Loss ...

Farming community calls for comprehensive fixes to Whatcom flood, water management problems

PRESS RELEASE - January 5, 2021 Contact: Dillon Honcoop - dhoncoop@savefamilyfarming.org Whatcom Family Farmers president: “A comprehensive effort to pursue all possible solutions… must begin immediately” (LYNDEN, Wash.) As wide swaths of north Whatcom County continue to clean up and rebuild after November’s devastating flooding disaster, the local farming community ...

New salmon habitat project shows Whatcom farmers are serious about collaborating to restore fish

News of a newly-completed salmon habitat restoration project in the midst of farmland near Lynden is underscoring farmers’ commitment to the long-term collaborative restoration work needed to help critically-endangered salmon populations in the Nooksack River Basin. Farmers in Whatcom County have been saying they want to bring together the local ...

As drought worsens, Whatcom farmers call for immediate action to protect fish, farming

Farmers urge all parties to come to the table and begin collaborative work to safeguard both endangered salmon and local farming, as drought underscores risks of inaction As drought conditions worsen and stream flows plummet in the wake of an historic heatwave, Whatcom County farmers are calling for all parties ...

“We’re saying, let’s start working together … right now.”

“This has to be a process of the community coming together. ... Hearing everyone’s concerns and working together to make real, long lasting solutions, rather than hashing it out in a courtroom where everyone is pitted against each other.” Governor Inslee recently signed his $59 million budget, which ...

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