CARA PROTECTION DISTRICT PROPOSAL

November 24 letter to Whatcom County Council:

Protecting Blaine and Birch Bay Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas (CARAs)

Whatcom County oversees many special purpose districts with taxing authority to meet public needs. A CARA Protection District for Blaine and Birch Bay that can purchase the east Blaine and Birch Point CARA properties under county jurisdiction in order to protect our joint public water supply system, reduce flooding, and control urban pollution fits that purpose well. 

Combined with improved stormwater management in the Drayton Harbor and Birch Bay watersheds, putting these aquifers in public hands would allow for public health, educational and recreational opportunities within an area beset by luxury, gated, planned unit developments. They could become forested 'greenway parks' as an oasis from the surrounding chaos.

Recommendation

Whatcom County Council adopt a moratorium on new development applications affecting East Blaine and Birch Point CARAs.

These two CARAs are of strategic importance to the health and safety of our communities. The East Blaine CARA supplies 100% of the drinking water to Blaine and Birch Bay residents. The Birch Point Cara represents both a future water source and a vital flood-control area for Birch Bay. Both areas are now under increasing threat from urban pollution, land-use pressures, and climate-driven hydrologic changes. Community members are increasingly aware – and alarmed – there is no comprehensive plan to protect these irreplaceable resources.

Resiliency, Sustainability and Balance

A moratorium will provide the necessary time and authority for County leadership to work with key stakeholders to develop a stronger, science-based approach to CARA protection. This will ensure that resiliency, sustainability and balanced growth guide decisions affecting these critical areas.

Water Planning Matters recommends the creation of a benchmark CARA Master Plan incorporating best management practices and best available science. A stakeholder committee would evaluate protective strategies – including funding mechanisms, land acquisition and potential establishment of a CARA Protection District – to preserve these areas as a lasting legacy of water security, ecological function and public benefit.

The approach aligns more closely with the Growth Management Act, which requires cities and counties to jointly plan for growth while ensuring protection of critical natural resources. A moratorium also allows for a cumulative assessment of development planning – something that is impossible under the current “one-development-at-a-time” approach that obscures larger risks and opportunities.

Birch Bay and Blaine communities are frustrated and calling for stronger and more meaningful public participation. Under County leadership, our volunteer representatives will ensure early and continuous, and wide public engagement so residents can play a direct role in shaping their environmental and community outcomes.

A coordinated CARA planning effort will allow Blaine to bring into compliance outdated ordinances, procedures and code enforcement capabilities (and adopt the latest science for protection of critical areas and wetlands), while focusing growth on UGA land more contiguous with Central Blaine. At the same time, this process allows for Birch Bay to focus on its immediate community priorities without distraction or fear of reprisals over Birch Point.

Blaine and Birch Bay civic leaders are actively pursuing CARA protection in east Blaine and at Birch Point. These civic leaders are now collaborating on the Birch Point Avista SEPA Appeal against Blaine Community Development Services.

Blaine’s unsupported land grab for Birch Point lands, in absence of public engagement or community consultation, underscores the clear need for Whatcom County Council to exercise its oversight responsibilities. Ensuring strict compliance with the Growth Management Comprehensive Plan process is not only essential for protecting vital public water resources – it is also critical for restoring public trust in the land-use decisions that will shape the future of Blaine, Birch Bay and the broader county.

We all recognize that remediating contaminated drinking water and repairing preventable flood damage caused by mismanaged CARAs is extraordinarily expensive. Prevention, through strong protection of critical aquifer areas, is far more cost-effective and yields lasting benefits for drinking water security, flood resilience, community education and recreation.

Whatcom County cannot shoulder this responsibility alone. Protecting CARAs will require coordinated effort and persistence. We have community leaders ready to assist and participate under County direction. We welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with you.