Whatcom County Council Public Works & Health Committee

## MODULE S1: STUDY GUIDE **Meeting ID:** WHA-CON-PWH-2026-02-24 ### Meeting Overview The Whatcom County Council Public Works & Health Committee met on February 24, 2026, to discuss a resolution supporting state funding for public health services and received a comprehensive presentation on flood mitigation strategies following the recent December 2025 flood event. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS):** State funding program that provides approximately $3.6 million annually to Whatcom County Health and Community Services, supporting about 30 positions across multiple departments to maintain basic public health infrastructure. **Vapor Tax:** A state tax on vaping products that funds public health programs. Recent changes separated nicotine and non-nicotine vapor revenues, reducing the funding pool available for FPHS and exposing it to potential cuts. **River Channel Migration:** The natural process where rivers move laterally across floodplains over time, reworking and transporting sediment downstream while creating habitat. This process has been largely stopped by levees and revetments. **Revetments:** Riprap (rock placement) along riverbanks that prevents lateral channel migration but contributes to channel narrowing by stopping natural sediment transport processes. **Flow Split:** The division of river flow at Everson where water either continues down the main Nooksack River toward Ferndale or overflows into the Everson-Sumas corridor during high water events. **Channel Narrowing:** The process where river channels become constricted over time as vegetation grows on gravel bars and traps fine sediments, reducing the river's capacity to carry flood flows. **FLIP Reach Team:** Flood, Land, and Integration Project team that conducts scientific analysis and develops flood mitigation strategies for different reaches of the Nooksack River system. **Levee Setbacks:** Moving existing levees further from the river channel to provide more room for natural river processes while maintaining flood protection for communities. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Elizabeth Boyle | Council Chair, Public Works & Health Committee | | John Scanlon | Council Member who introduced the FPHS resolution | | Thomas Cuddy | Director, Whatcom County Health and Community Services | | Julie Anderson | River and Flood Manager, Whatcom County Public Works | | Paula Harris | Flood Management Staff, Whatcom County Public Works | | Barry Buchanan | Council Member | | Ben Elenbaas | Council Member | | Kaylee Galloway | Council Member | | Jessica Rienstra | Council Member | | Mark Stremler | Council Member | ### Background Context This meeting occurred just two months after the December 2025 flood, which was the second major flood event in the Nooksack River basin within four years (following the November 2021 flood). The frequency of these events has raised urgent concerns about the river system's capacity and the need for immediate action. The public health funding issue stems from state budget discussions where Foundational Public Health Services faced potential $50 million cuts statewide. While the proposed cuts were removed from recent budget proposals, the long-term funding source remains unstable due to changes in how vapor tax revenue is categorized. The flood presentation revealed scientific findings that channel narrowing has significantly reduced the river's capacity. What once took about 45,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) to cause overflow at Main Street in Everson now occurs at approximately 30,000 CFS, with some recent recovery to around 33,000 CFS. ### What Happened — The Short Version The committee unanimously approved a resolution asking the state legislature to maintain funding for public health services. Council Member Scanlon explained that other counties were taking similar action to protect this critical funding source. The bulk of the meeting focused on a detailed presentation about flood mitigation strategies. Staff explained how decades of river management through levees and revetments has caused the Nooksack River channel to narrow significantly, reducing its capacity to handle flood flows and increasing the frequency of overflow events that impact Everson and Sumas. The presentation outlined both immediate "early action" projects and long-term solutions. The most urgent project involves widening the river corridor at Everson through channel excavation, though this is complicated by a Trans Mountain pipeline that must be relocated first. Cost estimates range from $182 million for early actions to $474 million for comprehensive long-term solutions. Council members expressed urgency about finding funding sources and removing regulatory barriers, with discussion about whether emergency declarations could expedite project timelines. ### What to Watch Next - State legislative action on Foundational Public Health Services funding during the current session - Development of specific project designs for the Everson corridor widening project over the next few months - Flood Control Zone District decisions on emergency declarations and project prioritization - Federal and state funding requests as project scopes become more defined ---