WHATCOM COUNTY, WA — The drinking water supply for about 80,000 people in this county is in trouble, says a study that has revealed the quality of Lake Whatcom is declining, a May 7 story in
The Bellingham Herald reported.
A report from the director of the Institute for Watershed Studies at Western Washington University revealed that an oxygen problem related to phosphorus pollution is the cause of the decline in the lake’s quality.
Report author Robin Matthews said, “Is the lake heading in a direction we don’t want it to go? The answer is yes.”
The report showed that potentially harmful chemicals used to kill algae in the lake are showing up in drinking water supplies.
Bellingham, WA, Mayor Tim Douglas said the city spent millions to acquire land in the lake’s watershed to thwart development and to control runoff pollution, but the city and the county need to now redouble their efforts.
Douglas said in the story, “[The report] is reconfirmation that the lake is going in the wrong direction in certain ways. We don’t want to look back 20 years from now and say, ‘Why didn’t we do something?’”
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