(Table of Contents)
One of the avenues pursued for obtaining information on activities occurring in the Nooksack Basin was a windshield survey from all public access roads in the basin. As part of this survey, inventory sheets were completed for the North, Middle, and South Fork and Lower Nooksack Subbasins documenting observed activities and land uses, approximate distance to waterbodies, potential sources of contaminants, and, where easily discernible, location of activity by subwatershed. The listing of an activity or use in the inventory followed by identification of potential contaminants was not intended to imply that the observed activity or use was impairing source water quality; only that the activity is present in the subbasin and the contaminants listed are ones which are typically associated with that particular use.
In the Lower Nooksack Subbasin, the survey area did not include the area draining south of the furthest down-river intake (PUD intake at approximately river mile 5.5). In addition to a print copy of the inventory sheets, the information collected was set up as a Microsoft Access database.
Information from the inventory sheets was used to develop contaminant-ranking matrices. The intent of the matrices is to quantify the number of activities of a certain type observed in the subbasins.
The matrices also delineate zones, based on distance to intakes and/or main stem of the Nooksack River, for purposes of assessing activities with potential to impair source water quality. Assessment of relative risk for each of the activities listed in the matrices is based on program objectives of the PUD and Lynden (Section V), topical information presented in Section II, extent to which the activities are found in the subbasin, and relative distance to the intakes.
For each subbasin, the categories are footnoted
to better clarify meaning and intent of the information presented in the matrix.
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North Fork Subbasin
Middle Fork Subbasin
South Fork Subbasin