In the Sudden Valley community, 200 houses are under construction.
"When I came to Sudden Valley 15 years ago, I was living in a forest. It was lovely. That’s why everybody came there in the first place," said Roger Bull, chair of the Sudden Valley Community Association City Committee. "Most people who come immediately wish that no one else will come."
The 1,700-acre area is already home to approximately 2,400 houses. Zoning laws restrict the build-up capacity to 3,300 houses, and restrictive covenants and a density reduction plan have allowed 1,388 lots to be preserved. Still, at a rate of 200 to 250 houses being built each year, the association expects Sudden Valley to reach build-up capacity within the next five years.
Downed trees and displaced wildlife are visible signs of environmental degradation accompanying residential growth in the Lake Whatcom watershed. Exposed soil from construction and landscaping also accompanies new development, increasing phosphorous runoff into the lake.
Scientists and citizens of Whatcom County are expressing alarm concerning Sudden Valley’s increasing residential development and its increasing contribution to pollution in the lake, which is the primary drinking source for approximately 85,000 residents.
"We continue to find that the highest levels of pollution come from the most heavily developed watersheds," said Richard Grout, director of the Washington State Department of Ecology Bellingham field office.
In 2000, the Sudden Valley Community Association appealed to the Whatcom County Council and was granted status as an urban growth area, which qualified it for state funding and gave the lakeside community five years to become its own city. The association used state funding to construct the Lake Louise sewer line in 2003, allowing a wave of new development.
"While it is difficult to attribute the impact of any one activity in a complex system like Lake Whatcom, history tells us repeatedly that land development along the lake results in increased loading of certain compounds," said Peg Wendling, Bellingham Public Works Department supervisor.
In 1999, the federal Clean Water Act listed Lake Whatcom as an impaired water body for lowered oxygen levels, and in 2004 it was listed again for containing high levels of contaminants such as mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls and dieldrin, a persistent chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide that accumulates in and becomes toxic to vertebrates.
Researchers Christopher Berger and Scott Wells of Portland State University stated in a recent report that the eutrophication processes in the lake have accelerated in recent years because of the increased availability of nutrients from tributary discharges to the basin as a result of development.
"The study also shows that reducing fertilizer runoff, improving septic systems and targeting other nutrient sources will help slow degradation and, in the long run, reverse the dissolved oxygen problem," said Glenn Kuper, Ecology’s Bellingham field office spokesman.
The Clean Water Alliance, a Bellingham advocacy group, filed a lawsuit at the beginning of this year challenging Sudden Valley’s growth status. The group lost its appeal in Snohomish County court proceedings, but the case is now before the state Supreme Court for potential review.
The community wants to become a city to use the tax base for services such as security, road maintenance and possibly elementary schools, Bull said.
If a majority of voters grant the area city status on Election Day 2006, Sudden Valley will have 180 to 360 days to incorporate as a city in Whatcom County.
If Sudden Valley is granted city status, Whatcom County would be responsible for any future clean up of the lake.
As the debate concerning water rights versus property rights continues, many scientists, city and county council members, activists and private citizens worry about the impacts of development in and around the watershed.
April Markiewicz, of the Institute of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry assistant director sits at her computer in an office lined with filing cabinets and thick notebooks containing various studies on issues affecting the environment of Whatcom County.
"Because we haven’t identified all the chemicals entering into the lake, we don’t know whether the ecosystem is actually being able to handle them," said Markiewicz, who is also the president of People for Lake Whatcom.
Markiewicz said that phosphorus associated with sediment loading is a principal concern because the phosphorus remains in the lake. The Public Works Department has had to increase the amount of chemicals used to treat water coming from Lake Whatcom while lowering its particle quality standards, Markiewicz said.
Scientific data revealing the direct effects of chemical pollution on Lake Whatcom from development does not exist, primarily because of shortfalls in funding.
The issues surrounding this fragile watershed are complex and difficult at best, and as the debate continues, it does not appear to be getting easier for anyone involved.
"The land where the houses are being built belongs to somebody, and legally they have the right to use it," Bull said. "You can require that they use it in a beneficial way by limiting the amount of ground that they can cover, which we do, and require certain standards for building."
Keeping Lake Whatcom a viable source of drinking water and the watershed a place to live requires compromise, Wendling said.
"The full impacts from increases in population in that area will be intricately dependent on land-use decisions and practices that are made there," Wendling said. "I don’t believe that losing Lake Whatcom as a drinking water source is an option that is on the table for this community."