Project Purpose – for City Water Rights Investigation
Identify, permit, construct and operate a managed aquifer recharge (MAR) system that will increase
flow in the Nooksack River primarily in June through November for habitat enhancement,
stream flow augmentation, and municipal surface water right mitigation purposes.
• Divert water from the Nooksack River (December through May) when the river exceeds minimum
instream flow requirements and convey that water, by pump or gravity, to selected MAR site(s). The
MAR system will infiltrate water into the subsurface resulting in recharge to the underlying
shallow aquifer systems.
• Potential MAR sites are being considered along the South, North, and Middle Forks
of the Nooksack River, and its Main-Stem, in geologic/hydrogeologic settings where a high
percentage of the infiltrated water will return to the river as groundwater recharge/seepage.
• The MAR sites would be located where the groundwater time of travel to the river is between
roughly 1 to 6 months so that river diversions between December and May will increase
groundwater seepage/recharge to the river from June through November. See the MAR
Conceptual Diagram on the back of this sheet for additional details.
• Climate change models for Whatcom County predict a decrease in snowpack, an
increase in winter/spring river flow, and a decrease in summer/fall river flow in the upcoming
decades. The MAR projects may provide a reliable long-term solution to counter these predicted
climate change impacts by storing a portion of the winter/spring river flows in the subsurface and
releasing that stored water as cool groundwater recharge to the river during the summer/fall
• This same concept also means that the MAR projects would provide some degree of summertime
drought protection for the Nooksack River.
• The MAR projects could provide several thousands of acre-feet of relatively cold groundwater
recharge to the upstream reaches of the river between June and November. It is intended that the
vast majority of this MAR water will be placed in trust for streamflow and habitat
• A percentage of the increased flow in the river will be credited as mitigation for a modest
new City of Lynden annual municipal water right. The City will provide for the ongoing monitoring
and operation of the MAR systems to maintain their municipal surface water right.
• A share of the new water right may be used to address public health concerns
of water associations, adjacent to Lynden, that currently use groundwater with nitrate
concentrations above drinking water standards.
Project Team Members: City of Lynden, AESI, and Reichardt & Ebe
Letters of Support Received from the Following Agencies:
Birch Bay Water and Sewer District
Northern Whatcom County Small City Caucus
Public Utility District No. 1 of Whatcom County