Water Resources Inventory Area 1 Watershed Management

Introduction to the Surface-Water System


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WRIA 1 consists of two hydrologic provinces: the uplands where streams have steep gradients and cut through bedrock, and the lowlands where streams have low gradients and cut through glacial and interglacial sediments and alluvium. The major river system in WRIA 1 is the Nooksack River (Streams, Canals, and Lakes in the WRIA 1 Study Area). In the uplands east of the City of Deming, the Nooksack River has three branches: the North Fork, the Middle Fork, and the South Fork. Water in all three forks originates as combinations of direct runoff (defined as that portion of precipitation that runs off the land and/or flows horizontally through the soils once soils become saturated), discharge from the ground-water system to the stream (called baseflow), and, in the case of the North and Middle Forks, glacial meltwater. Streamflows in each of the forks combine just east of Deming, forming the main stem of the Nooksack River that flows to Bellingham Bay in Puget Sound. On average, water in the Nooksack River takes about one day to travel from Deming to Bellingham Bay. During times of intense rain or snowmelt water reaches Puget Sound more quickly. In the lowlands, tributaries such as Anderson Creek, Fishtrap Creek, and many others discharge into the main stem of the Nooksack River. Part of the Nooksack River system originates in Canada, which is part of the reason why the preliminary study area for WRIA 1 extends into Canada.

The Nooksack River system provides a source of water in addition to ground water for land-use activities in WRIA 1. For example, water is diverted via a pipeline from the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River to Lake Whatcom, which is used as the municipal water supply for the City of Bellingham. Lake Whatcom is in the Whatcom Creek watershed, which is separate from the Nooksack River watershed and drains directly into Bellingham Bay. This diversion is the only significant inter-basin transfer of water within WRIA 1. A significant out-of-basin transfer occurs from the main stem of the Nooksack River near Ferndale to the Strait of Georgia near Cherry Point. Other uses of water in the Nooksack River system include agriculture, industry, municipal water supply, recreation, and habitat for plants and animals. In some cases, a portion of the water that is withdrawn from the river system may be returned, for example as treated sewage effluent or ground-water discharge from infiltration of irrigation.

In addition to the Nooksack River system, WRIA 1 contains several small watersheds that drain directly to Puget Sound. Examples of these are California Creek and Chuckanut Creek. Two major watersheds, the Sumas River and Chilliwack River watersheds, originate in WRIA 1 and drain north into Canada, where water from these river systems eventually discharges to the Fraser River.

The surface-water system of the WRIA 1 lowlands has been extensively altered by people. In its natural condition, large areas of the lowlands were swampy. To make these lands inhabitable and conducive to agriculture, people have installed drainage systems to lower the water table and dry the land ever since farming by settlers started in the area, in about 1850. Parts of the drainage systems consist of open ditches that are easily identified, while other parts consist of underground structures not visible from the surface. No comprehensive inventory exists of the locations and sizes of the underground drainage system. Other alterations to the surface-water system include the diking and redirecting of the Nooksack River, to minimize damage from flooding that occurs periodically.

On this webpage, a subset of existing information related to the surface-water system of WRIA 1 is displayed in maps and tables. Each piece of information may serve a purpose when computing a water budget for WRIA 1 during later study phases. For example, continuous streamflow discharge measurements (Summary Information for Continuous Streamflow Gages in and near the WRIA 1 Study Area) are important to verify that a possible future computer model of the hydrologic system in WRIA 1 accurately predicts streamflow. Miscellaneous measurements along stream segments that quantify streamflow gain from, or loss to, the ground-water system (referred to as seepage runs) are important for the same reason (Miscellaneous Streamflow Data in the WRIA 1 Study Area).