The Nooksack River is in “grave danger,” warns Whatcom scientist with numbers to back it up

The Nooksack River is in “grave danger” of experiencing irreversible changes and ecosystem collapse if Whatcom County doesn’t rapidly reform the way it manages nearby human activity. That was the warning that Western Washington University environmental sciences associate professor John McLaughlin gave at the annual environmental caucus meeting for the Water Resource Inventory Area #1 on Monday, Jan. 10. The Water Resource Inventory Area #1 is the watershed designation for the Nooksack River system.

He has the numbers to back this warning up. In 2017, McLaughlin identified six variables that indicate river health. The state of these variables are within Whatcom County’s control. They include forest area in the river basin, riparian forest cover along the river, stream flow during the dry season, phosphorus influx to the water supply, nitrate in the groundwater and the area of impervious surfaces in the river basin. (Impervious surfaces are hard areas that prevent water from absorbing into the ground, such as roads, parking lots and roofs.) McLaughlin conducted a deep dive into each variable to determine at what limit does irreversible change or collapse happens. What he found was alarming: We have exceeded the safety boundaries for five of the six variables.

McLaughlin didn’t sugarcoat his point in the presentation: “It should be a wake-up call.”