Why Whatcom County’s Proposed Food Plan Falls Short

Whatcom Family Farmers, Whatcom County Farm Bureau issue joint statement voicing local farming community’s concerns with Whatcom County’s recently-proposed Food System Plan. April 20, 2023 Food Systems Report Comments County Council members and Food System Committee: Whatcom Family Farmers is a non-profit organization representing many farmers and farm-related businesses in ...

Tell lawmakers to support stewardship and farming

Washington state lawmakers in both the Senate and the House will be holding executive sessions and recommending whether or not to pass two important bills, SB 5353 and HB 1421, that consider re-opening enrollment and adding funding to the Voluntary Stewardship Program (VSP). We are asking you to contact ...

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 ...

Community Collaboration Can Solve Whatcom Water Crisis, Bring Legal Certainty

We’re fortunate that spring rains and snowpack this year have kept streams from dropping to the record low levels we saw during last year’s drought. But the reality is that stream flows still aren’t where they could be if our community came together to get desperately-needed infrastructure ...

Whatcom farmers share north Whatcom mayors’ concern over Ecology’s misleading statements, stalled collaboration

Farming community joins other local leaders’ calls to reinvigorate county-wide collaboration on flooding, water access solutions (LYNDEN, Wash.) Whatcom Family Farmers agrees with the mayors of five Whatcom cities, who are expressing their concerns about the Washington Department of Ecology’s troubling efforts to promote a harmful legal action against local ...

Whatcom County Council agrees unanimously to support collaboration

Whatcom Family Farmers is encouraged by Whatcom County's support for a collaborative approach to the Nooksack River Basin's ongoing water crisis. Last year's drought closely followed by record-setting flooding only a couple of months later clearly demonstrated the basin's water crisis results from a failure of water management, not ...

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 ...

Whatcom farmers call for immediate Nooksack flood, water solutions

Critical projects will protect families, fish and farms – but will require community-wide collaboration By Rich Appel, President, Whatcom Family Farmers Families across Whatcom County devastated by November’s flooding disaster in the Nooksack River Basin need our help with more than just putting their lives back together. It is urgent ...

Join the growing movement to solve Whatcom flood & water issues now

Do you agree that we cannot wait to do everything possible to prevent another Nooksack River flooding disaster? If so, we need your support to get solutions happening right away! Read more on solutions here. Join the campaign to make sure all possible flood prevention and water management options are ...

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