From State of Our Watersheds: Lummi Nation chapter and wells
Every red dot is a new well in a basin that has been closed for new withdrawals:
The State of Our Watersheds Report describes the impact these wells are having on salmon habitat:
The WRIA 1 watershed instream flow rules were set in 1986 to “protect and preserve” instream resources from low flow exceedances.
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Contributing to this problem is the growth in exempt wells. The number of exempt wells has expanded 270%
since 1986, from an estimated 3,294 wells to an estimated 12,195 wells. The majority of this increase (77%) occurred in basins either seasonally closed or closed year-round to water withdrawal.From 1986 to 2009, flows in the Nooksack River failed to meet instream flow rule requirements 72% of the time during the July-September flow period. This circumstance and trend is contrary to the strategy to protect instream water flow for fish.