Looks like Washington gets to go to the beaver movies for my birthday eve. How is that fair? Not that I’d personally love to be called a resource exactly, but I’m sure it’s better than being called a pest.

“Beavers in the Ecosystem” (Sept. 19);

Water Week

A resource worth celebrating

When rain fell late last week, and again over the weekend, it was the first time in almost three months that Whatcom County had any “wetting rain”—rainfall that was widespread over an extended period of time.

And although the soggy Saturday likely threw monkey wrenches into outdoor weddings, music festivals and other long-planned get-togethers slated for the typically sunny skies of late summer in the Pacific Northwest, the cooler temperatures and consistent moisture falling from the sky were welcome changes from the more than 80 days without any significant precipitation that preceded.

As part of Whatcom Water Week—which takes place from Sept. 16-23 at a variety of outdoor and indoor venues throughout the county—those who get involved in one or many of the lineup of events can find out why it’s important to pay attention to what’s falling from the sky and coursing through rivers, and how water affects everything from crops to fish to beavers.

“Whatcom Water Week is an event that celebrates our local water resources,” organizers from the Whatcom Watershed Information Network say. “Businesses, nonprofit organizations and community groups celebrate the importance of water, share information about the state of the resource, offer stewardship opportunities, and expand awareness and appreciation of our marine and freshwater resources and the role water plays in our lives.”

Don’t you want to go to the water film festival? Or maybe take in a Run with the chums? The tagline of the week is “It’s everybody’s business” because Washington State is just brilliant, ya know? Getting folks excited about water takes all kind of effort, but if anyone could do it it’s them.

I have put out feelers for the film to see if we can share it here. I’ll let you know what I hear back.

Over the weekend I started having an idea for a graphic based on a wheel instead of an arch. It took a bit of fiddling but I’m fairly happy with the way it came out. One of our beaver buddies suggested it might be useful to include a human and some cattle, but I’m not so sure. All in all, it lends itself to pretty straightforward messaging.

What do you think?

Oh and I thought I’d show you our returned beavers little dam in the part of Alhambra Creek we can’t see from the Susanna Street Bridge. If your sound is turned up you will understand why beaver dams are sometimes called ‘leaky dams’. This was filmed by Moses Silva.