by Uncle Wes, March 18, 2005

This is not my usual fishing column. Well it is and it isn’t. Fish will be mentioned, that’s one thing you can always count on. For sometime now folks have been asking my opinion on Lake Whatcom, am I for or against? Well I can assure you that I am all for clean drinking water, as is everyone involved in this dispute. But I have grown weary of all the rock-throwing and finger-pointing. This is solving nothing. In fact, if I read one more article that creates more problems instead of common sense solutions I believe I will go crazy.



I’m a middle-of-the-road type of guy. I always believe that there is an alternative solution for everything without being an extremist. I’m going to try to offer some topics for discussion and maybe help focus your attention on the real issues at hand. You see, I’ve done some research on my own. First of all, the fish population is not going down. If anything, it is increasing. Kokanee returning back to the Lake Whatcom hatchery took a little bit of a downturn in the 2000-01 (117,825) season, but have now returned to the same levels they were in 1998 (149,972). Eggs from these returning fish are harvested and then released to eight different hatcheries around Washington. This year there was such an over abundance (15,570,000) that 750,000 were sent to California to help with their fishery program. And the fish aren’t necessarily unhealthy to eat. The Washington department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) recommends for women of childbearing age, and for children six years of age and under, “no consumption of smallmouth bass and (at most) one meal a month of yellow perch.” For the general population there are no restrictions on either species, or any others.



As I dug into this topic I was really curious about what the number-one contributor to water pollution was, and it was no surprise. Industry accounted for over half of all water pollution. But the real eye opener for me was to find out that the number-two overall contributor was inadequate storm drains and water run-off. This accounted for almost 40 percent and includes pesticides, drainage ditches, fertilizers, roadways and out-dated septic systems. Now this really starts you thinking about Lake Whatcom and the situation that is occurring right now. A 1999 report from Entranco and a water study done by Dr. Robin Matthews of Huxley College both indicate degradation of the lake water and I have no reason to doubt their findings. No I haven’t personally read both reports but I get the jist.



This really makes a person start looking into the situation and just how this problem will be resolved. In other words, lets focus on the real issues. As I understand it, our politicians are doing that now; looking at storm drains, water run off, and other issues in the actual clean up of the lake. So I was wondering, how does one take care of such matters? Do we leave it to a handful of elected officials or is there some other way, such as a committee with all interested parties? That got me to dig a little deeper and I found a program designed to do that very thing, outlined by the Washington State Department of Ecology, called “The Water Quality Program”. This program shows you how to form committees to address these issues and how to solve the problem with all sides involved. If you’re interested you can check out their website at this URL http://www.ecy.wa.gov./programs/wq/wqhome.html



If you want to do something, then get involved. You don’t have to be a radical or extremist to be part of the solution, have your opinion heard, and be part of the actual planning process. So until next time may the fish at the end of your line be the one of your dreams.