This website is owned and operated by a citizen of the City of Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington State, who is concerned about maintaining
the quality of the water in the lake which is our Reservoir - the sole source of the drinking water for about 87,000 people in Bellingham and surrounding areas - Lake Whatcom.
This Reservoir is unusual.
In most parts of the US, the drinking water reservoir would be closed to public access, often fenced and gated.
Not here.
Our Reservoir is surrounded by city and county urban development, with more building still going on at a fast pace.
Dozens, maybe hundreds of homes sit on the lakeshore, where their toxics and pollutants easily move from the lawns and roads into the water.
We believe that is wrong.
Read more about the history of these water quality preservation efforts: ...
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The site began when a small group(*) ran a Citizens' Initiative Campaign to the voters of the City of Bellingham in 1998-1999.
We were Whatcom County residents who regularly took action
for protection of the eco-systems and for responsible local government actions
by putting proposals before them -- and when necessary, before the voters -- for implementation.
Our group adopted the name: "The Initiative Group" (tig), and registered as a PAC.
The Initiative would have created law which required that
the City collect a surcharge on water bills and use the money to purchase land within the watersheds (there are two)
and hold that land perpetually in well-managed forest. That campaign went to the voters in November 1999 and, by a narrow margin, failed at the polls.
Soon after the initiative campaign ended, the PAC was dissolved.
But the need remained, and this webspace has continued to address any and all problems related to preserving the water quality (elimination of pollution)
of the water in the Reservoir.
Copyright 1999-2008 ©LakeWhatcom.org.
(*) "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-- Margaret Mead
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