Nooksack River - River Modifications

River Modifications

The river once supplied hydroelectricity near its source and at Nooksack Falls. The river is also partially blocked with a low diversion dam on the Middle Fork by the city of Bellingham to divert water into Lake Whatcom, Bellingham's drinking water supply.

In the late 19th century, most of the stream flow of the Nooksack River near its mouth flowed through the present channel of the short Lummi River to Lummi Bay, northwest of Bellingham Bay. Near the start of the 20th century, a log jam plugged the channel to Lummi Bay, forcing the river to change its channel to the present one. The accumulation of the new river delta has been an ongoing field of research regarding the new wetlands it has created while no longer resupplying the previous delta on Lummi Bay, except during high flow conditions.