Many steps can be taken to improve Lake Whatcom

Lake Whatcom Reservoir, the source of drinking water for more than 90,000 people, including all of Bellingham and half of Whatcom County residents, is our most precious natural resource. Water quality in Lake Whatcom is declining and we are not fulfilling our responsibility to ensure it remains healthy.

Numerous scientific studies have documented that there are unsafe levels of phosphorus and other unhealthy chemicals in the lake. This is no longer a matter for open debate. Just last summer our entire community had to ration water due to excessive algae growth, fed by large amounts of phosphorus, that clogged the filtration systems at the city's water treatment facility.

This excessive phosphorus problem caused largely by stormwater runoff is made worse by the lawns and houses around the lake. If these large algae blooms increase in frequency, our community will need to pay for additional filters and other additions to the water treatment plant to provide the quality/quantity of water needed.

If all watershed property owners made small changes in landscaping such as reducing or eliminating lawns, improving the soil's ability to absorb rain water, and placing landscape beds with trees and shrubs to capture any surface runoff before it leaves their property, it would greatly reduce the phosphorus entering the lake. Those actions could save our community millions of dollars. There is a role for all water users. Please support Lake Whatcom restoration by letting our elected officials know that you expect action and results.

There are important efforts underway to help protect the lake, and we would like to propose several more.

-- Housing development is the main cause of water pollution in the lake, therefore strict land clearing and development rules are vital to ensure clean water. Citizens must make it clear to the County Council that rules must ensure that development is not further damaging our drinking water source and that steps are taken to retrofit existing development to improve water quality.

-- County Executive Pete Kremen's proposal to create the Lake Whatcom Forest Preserve is a great, low-cost idea. If this park is not created, much of the area will be commercially logged and more than 22 miles of roads will be put in, which will exacerbate the risk of landslides and increase phosphorus contamination of the lake. The creation of a low-impact park will restore natural old-growth forests that protect soil. This proposal covers 8,400 acres or 25 percent of the watershed.

-- The city of Bellingham's' land acquisitions program has protected more than 1,476 acres and reduced potential development around the lake by 704 homes. This program should continue.

-- The Silver Beach Creek Pilot Project proposed by city and county staff members must be funded. The results we will get from focusing our restoration effort on one sub-basin will inform further restoration efforts in the watershed. We need to know what works and not waste taxpayer dollars on projects that don't produce results.

-- Public and private road surfaces allow stormwater to flow into the lake untreated. Efforts like the Northshore Drive project last year using pervious pavement in the bike lanes captures the runoff and filters it before in enters the lake. Road narrowing is another option to reduce runoff. Other unnecessary impervious surfaces, public and private, should be removed.

-- Parks within the watershed should be redesigned to protect water quality.

While some might claim that the economic downturn should slow our response to protecting our drinking water, we see that as penny wise but pound foolish. The quality of our drinking water source is an issue of human health and economic viability. Polluted water can be treated to drinking water standards but it means adding a lot more chemicals whose by-products may compromise health. The cost for treatment will increase each year, including the expensive expansion of the water treatment facility.

You can help by contacting your local officials and demanding that they prioritize clean drinking water by funding restoration and protection projects.