PROTECTING CARAs

Today's letter published at Cascadia Daily News:


Editor,

At a time when Whatcom County and the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) are planning on how to ration potable water as our population grows, one would think it prudent to protect already identified high-quality Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas (CARAs) that can supply safe drinking water for the present and the future. Especially CARAs that are independent of the Nooksack watershed and the DOE adjudication process now underway.

To meet the current needs of Blaine and Birch Bay residents, the City of Blaine CARA in east Blaine must be redesignated as a conservation area, and the CARA at Birch Point adjacent to west Blaine must be conserved for the future needs of the forthcoming city of Birch Bay. 

These clean drinking water reserves, unpolluted by agricultural or urban runoff, are vital resources that Whatcom County and Washington state are obligated to protect. At the DOE presentation on Drayton Harbor pollution recently, it was noted that cleanup will depend on citizens demanding it. I expect the same is true for preventing the destruction of CARAs by unscrupulous developers.

Jay Taber
Blaine

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