To mitigate floods, Whatcom County wants to widen the Nooksack

Costly, ambitious project needs state funding, outside help to come to fruition

By: Sophia Gates

Outlets: Cascadia Daily News

Published: February 26, 2026

Words: 1,640

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 1 day ago

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Two flood disasters, just four years apart, each underscored the threat posed by the moody and volatile Nooksack River.

The crises in 2021 and December 2025 have spurred increasingly urgent calls to “dredge the Nooksack,” or take gravel out of the river, a measure experts say would likely be ineffective.

Community advocates aren’t wrong, though, in pointing to sediment build-up in the river channel as a driver of flooding.

To deal …

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