To mitigate floods, Whatcom County wants to widen the Nooksack

By: Sophia Gates

Outlets: Washington State Standard

Published: February 27, 2026

Words: 1,608

Last Updated: 1 week, 5 days 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 with that issue, …

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