Several Sumas residents are seeking to be removed as parties to a Whatcom County court case that will determine who has historical rights to water in the Nooksack River basin, how much they can use, and how much be reserved for environmental protections that include salmon.
That case in Whatcom County Superior Court, formally called an “adjudication,” affects more than 30,000 water users in Whatcom County, including local governments, Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe, farmers, businesses and rural residents with wells.
Calling themselves Sumas Out, the residents argue their land shouldn’t be included in the state Department of Ecology’s Water Resource Inventory Area 1, which is the Nooksack River watershed. It includes the rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes and groundwater in all of Whatcom County and part of northwestern Skagit County…