Ecology Official: Sediment Removal is NOT an option to reduce flooding in the Nooksack Basin…
Confusion seems to rein on helping Whatcom County with solutions to its flood concerns.
Ecology Floodplain Mgmt Staff says No to a Sediment Removal option and then a department “statement” contradicting their own staff member claims “all” options are available…
Read on and listen to the PODCAST. It begins at about 14:30 Minutes. You Decide…
Here is a report from Save Family Farming
Communities in Whatcom County had previously written 4 state entities in their wish to get solutions to River Management
Farmers, city mayors and other community leaders have been calling for immediate work on key solutions, including river sediment management, water storage, waterway fixes and other measures to prevent another another massive flood. But David Radabaugh, Northwest Region Floodplain Management Specialist for the Department of Ecology, on theFeb. 3 episode of KUOW-FM’s Soundside :news program, flatly denied that the state is even considering the possibility of removing sediment from the Nooksack River to protect nearby communities from future flooding….(FOURTH CORNER EDITOR’S NOTE: The embedded link above begins at about 16 minutes in and records the answer of the Ecology official ; then does the credits for the show itself AND adds a different statement by ecology read by the host. To get a complete 18 minute play of the Podcast Use this link… Play full version here.
“Well… at this point… Nope,” Radabaugh said bluntly in response to host Libby Denkmann’s repeated question about whether the state
North County Flood Nov 2021
is considering sediment removal on the Nooksack. When Libby Denkmann then asked him if Radabaugh could elaborate on his blunt answer, he responded, “No, I’m afraid not.” While KUOW reports that Ecology later claimed Radabaugh’s arrogant responses were a result of “technical difficulties,” farmers and flood victims in Whatcom County aren’t buying it, and are crying foul.
“This is deeply troubling, if unsurprising, “ Dillon Honcoop, Communication Director for state-wide farm advocacy group Save Family Farming. “This administration and especially Ecology have proven tone-deaf when it comes to the concerns of smaller, rural communities. We see that in plans to sue water rights, holders, in creating bills that would destroy most farming in Western Washington, and now in dismissing the very real concerns of flood victims desperate for help.”
Northwest Flood Victims Incensed Over Ecology’s Confusing Positions on Flood Prevention
Awkward moment caught live on Seattle radio leaves Whatcom flood victims and farmers offended and confused about the Washington Department of Ecology’s policies on flood and water management.
EVERSON, Wash. – Northwest Washington suffered a lost life, over $100 million in damages and hundreds of homes destroyed in the recent flood. But Washington’s Department of Ecology’s flood management specialist tells the community “Nope” when asked about a solution. In a rare moment of transparency, a top Washington State Department of Ecology official conveyed on live radio what his agency apparently thinks about protecting Whatcom families, fish and farming from another flooding disaster.
In The Bellingham Herald on Feb. 6, Ecology falsely claimed that November’s deadly flooding, and the water management failures that it
Downtown Sumas
exposed, is a “separate issue” from the water-rights lawsuit the department has been touting–as the solution to the basin’s water management problems. “The argument that the multi-decade court fight they want somehow wouldn’t strangle flood prevention work and water management improvements–and that the issues aren’t even linked–just simply doesn’t carry water,” said Honcoop.
Save Family Farming affiliate Whatcom Family Farmers has highlighted numerous harmful aspects of Ecology’s desire for a water rights court battle, which is a threat not only to the future of farming, but to open space, protection and restoration of critically endangered salmon runs, and also the crucial work urgently needed to prevent the further loss of life, environmental harm and economic devastation of another flooding disaster.
Dillon Honcoop
Communications Director
Save Family Farming
Hello, Mr. Honcoop and Mr. Appel:
Anyone who gets paid to raise this fight is suspect in my mind, whether they are a bureaucrat, a newspaper man, or a non-profit organization lead.
I have been writing you and calling you and I am getting no response. I have good ideas about what to do to solve this problem, and I would like to contribute them on the grass-roots level in brainstorming meetings where we also plan how we are going to put political pressure on our elected leaders to get the job done.
Who’s in charge when someone comes into public office? Is it the people’s elected representative or is it the paid bureaucrat administrative staff? I think you know what the Constitutional answer should be.
If it’s we the people who ordained and established the Constitution (and it is), then those in charge should be our ELECTED representatives and not any office staff, planning and permitting department, or government agency of any kind.
Our representatives need to put their foot down and represent the people of their district–and no one else. Nor should they govern by consensus among a group or because they accepted a financial gift or bribe which they should not have accepted. Gifts like this take away the heart, and the resulting oppression, which such leaders cause, understandably drives men mad!
Can you not see that our country is being ruled by money instead of human thought? How can this situation stop? I have ideas about this which I would like to share with you. If you intend to be leaders, then you ought to respond to those you lead like me—at any time, day or night.
We must put severe pressure on our candidates running for political seats, and on our current elected representatives. These people MUST stand up for us and FIGHT, or else they MUST be replaced by people who will! We also have ridicule and shame we can use immediately. The plight of our fellow man MUST be heeded and corrected. We have the power to solve all problems, so there is no excuse for anyone which is justified! If the Dutch can reclaim land from the ocean by diking, then surely we can keep our rivers from flooding our homes and towns! The situation is an emergency and calls for sound, strong leaders–ones just like Trump is being. And yet, no one around here will even openly support him! What wusses we are. Shame, shame.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Doris Smith