The Nooksack Source Protection Plan (NSPP) was developed by the City of Lynden and Public Utility District #1 of Whatcom County in accordance with WAC-246-290-135 (4) and WAC-246-290-668. Sections of the NSPP include: I) Watershed Characterization; II) Potential Land Uses/Activities Detrimental to Source Water Quality; III) Source Water Monitoring Programs; IV) Water System Design and Operations; V) Watershed Controls and Recommendations; and VI) References.
The approach taken in developing the NSPP was to use existing information where it was available. For Section II, which identifies land uses with potential to impair source water quality, a variety of approaches were taken in order to best quantify activities occurring in the Nooksack Basin. There is a need for an additional level of information gathering, which is recommended as part of the NSPP implementation, that will better correlate the specific activities identified in Section II and the potential for impairing water quality (i.e., individual review of NPDES permits and SWPPP documents). Recommendations for this second level of detail are included in this document (Section V).
For purposes of preparing the NSPP, the Nooksack Basin has been divided into its four primary subbasins: North Fork, Middle Fork, South Fork and Lower Nooksack. The focus of this document is on the areas above the City of Lynden and PUD water intakes.
Subdividing the Nooksack Basin and this document into subbasins provides consistency with the existing land use subareas used by Whatcom County Planning Department in their planning efforts. In addition, subdividing the NSPP into subbasins may increase the documents use by other water purveyors because it can more easily be adapted and modified to meet another purveyor's needs.
Since each subbasin is characterized independently, information presented within each subbasin may be repetitive. This approach was taken to provide the flexibility that would enable other water purveyor's to adopt or modify relevant sections of the source protection plan to meet their source protection requirements.
The City of Bellingham operates a diversion dam on the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River. Information about the City's diversion and land uses above and adjacent to the diversion are included in the NSPP. The City of Bellingham and Water District #10 have jointly prepared a source protection plan for the Lake Whatcom watershed. The two source protection plans - the NSPP and the Lake Whatcom Source Protection Plan - together represent a regional source protection effort for the Nooksack Basin.
Under the previously referenced WACs, the NSPP is required to be updated on a six-year cycle. The 2005 NSPP update process is outlined in Section V of this document.