Washington

Buying Land in Whatcom County, Washington

Whatcom County, Washington's northernmost county along the I-5 corridor, has lived through two genuinely significant, well-documented land-use stories in the past decade: a landmark industrial-siting fight at Cherry Point, and increasingly severe, recent flooding along the lower Nooksack River. Both carry real consequences for buying land here.

Severe, Recent, Repeated Nooksack River Flooding Is a Real, Current Risk

Case-by-case / verify locally

The lower Nooksack River corridor, including the Sumas/Everson area near the Canadian border, has suffered two major flood disasters just four years apart -- November 2021 and December 2025 -- and flooding here has grown more frequent, longer-lasting, and more damaging since the 1990s, not less. This is an active, ongoing risk, not a resolved historical event; see the dedicated flood-zones subpage for the county's current mitigation planning and what it means for a specific parcel.

A 2023 Transboundary Initiative and Active 2026 Flood Planning

Case-by-case / verify locally

Washington State, British Columbia, local Tribes and First Nations, Whatcom County, and the City of Abbotsford signed the Nooksack and Sumas Transboundary Flood Initiative in October 2023, and as of February 2026 the county was actively pursuing a Floodplain Integrated Planning (FLIP) approach that includes widening the river via levee setbacks and, in some areas, voluntary property buyouts. If you're evaluating land in the lower Nooksack corridor, ask directly whether it falls within an area being considered for a levee setback, buyout program, or other active flood-mitigation project.

Cherry Point: A Real, Resolved Coal-Terminal Fight With Lasting Zoning Consequences

Generally favorable

Cherry Point, an industrial-zoned deepwater site in northern Whatcom County, was the proposed site of the Gateway Pacific coal export terminal until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected the project in May 2016 on Lummi Nation treaty-fishing-rights grounds, and the developer formally withdrew its permit applications in February 2017. In direct response, the Whatcom County Council adopted development-code amendments restricting new fossil-fuel projects at Cherry Point (passed in 2021) -- a real, lasting zoning consequence of that fight, not just a one-time permit denial. If industrial-scale or fossil-fuel-adjacent development is part of your interest in Cherry Point-area land, confirm these restrictions directly with the county.

A Real, Active Farmland Conservation Easement Program

Case-by-case / verify locally

Whatcom County has operated a farmland preservation program since 2002 (originally called Purchase of Development Rights, renamed the Conservation Easement Program in 2021), which pays landowners for the value of unused development rights on land zoned Rural 5A, Rural 10A, or Agriculture outside the Urban Growth Area, permanently retiring those rights via conservation easement. As of a 2018 update, 919 acres had been permanently protected. If you're considering selling development rights on qualifying agricultural land, or buying land already under an existing easement, confirm current program terms and any existing easement's restrictions directly with the county.

Severe, recurring flooding along the lower Nooksack River

Whatcom County's most consequential and currently active land-use hazard is flooding along the lower Nooksack River, particularly near Sumas and Everson close to the Canadian border. Two major flood disasters struck the area just four years apart -- November 2021 (which damaged the Nooksack River culvert at State Route 544 near Everson) and December 2025 -- and county data shows flooding has become more frequent, longer-lasting, and more damaging over the past several decades, especially since the 1990s. In direct response, the State of Washington, the Province of British Columbia, local Tribes and First Nations, Whatcom County, and the City of Abbotsford signed the Nooksack and Sumas Transboundary Flood Initiative in October 2023, a formal cross-border commitment to jointly address the recurring flooding. As of February 2026, county staff were actively pursuing a Floodplain Integrated Planning (FLIP) strategy centered on physically widening the river -- setting back levees and armored banks that have artificially constricted the Nooksack for decades -- to restore its natural ability to move sediment and reduce flood heights, alongside targeted voluntary property buyouts in the highest-risk areas. This is genuinely live, current planning, not a historical footnote -- for the full picture, including which areas are being considered for levee setbacks or buyouts, see the dedicated flood-zones subpage.

Cherry Point: a landmark siting fight that reshaped local zoning

Cherry Point, an industrial-zoned deepwater site in northern Whatcom County near an ancestral Lummi Nation village site, was proposed in 2011 as the location for the Gateway Pacific Terminal, a massive coal- and dry-bulk-export facility that would have shipped up to roughly 54 million metric tonnes annually (mostly coal) to Asian markets. The project drew sustained opposition from the Lummi Nation, whose 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott fishing rights -- confirmed in the landmark 1974 Boldt decision -- covered the waters off Cherry Point. On May 9, 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found the terminal could not be built and operated at Cherry Point without significant adverse impacts to those treaty fishing rights, effectively killing the project; the developer formally withdrew its permit applications in February 2017. What makes this directly relevant to zoning today, rather than a resolved historical episode, is what came after: the Whatcom County Council responded by initiating a process to amend the county's development regulations specifically to preclude new fossil-fuel projects like the coal terminal from being sited at Cherry Point, with those restrictions passing in 2021. For anyone evaluating industrial-zoned Cherry Point-area land, this is a real, current regulatory constraint on fossil-fuel-related uses -- confirm its exact current scope directly with Whatcom County Planning and Development Services.

A working farmland conservation program

Separate from both stories above, Whatcom County has run a real, functioning agricultural-land preservation program since 2002 -- originally the Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program, renamed the Conservation Easement Program (CEP) in 2021. It's voluntary: a landowner with qualifying land zoned Rural 5A, Rural 10A, or Agriculture, located outside the Urban Growth Area, can apply to sell the property's unused development rights to the county, which are then permanently extinguished via a recorded conservation easement, while the landowner retains ownership and continues farming. As of a 2018 program update, 919 acres of Whatcom County farmland had been permanently protected this way, with 130 individual development rights retired across 19 agricultural conservation easements, and the program was separately expanded in 2018 to also cover working forestland and important ecosystem areas as secondary goals. If a listing mentions an existing conservation easement, confirm its specific restrictions on future building or subdivision directly with the county before assuming standard zoning applies to that parcel.

What we could and couldn't confirm

The Gateway Pacific Terminal timeline (2011 proposal, May 2016 Army Corps rejection on Lummi treaty-fishing-rights grounds, February 2017 withdrawal) and Whatcom County's 2021 Cherry Point fossil-fuel development-code restrictions are corroborated across Wikipedia, Sightline Institute, and RE Sources reporting. The November 2021 and December 2025 Nooksack River floods, the October 2023 Transboundary Flood Initiative, and the county's February 2026 levee-setback/FLIP planning are corroborated across Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington State Standard, Cascadia Daily News, and Salish Current reporting. The Conservation Easement Program's acreage and easement-count figures are drawn from a 2018 program update cited in WSU Extension and county sourcing and should be treated as a snapshot rather than a current total -- confirm current protected acreage directly with the county.

Verify directly with: Whatcom County Planning and Development Services for zoning, Cherry Point restrictions, and floodplain status, and the Whatcom County Health Department for septic permitting

Who to Call Before Buying Land in Whatcom County

Planning and Development Services handles both zoning/floodplain review and building permits; septic runs through a separate Health Department Environmental Health division.

Planning & Zoning

Whatcom County Planning and Development Services

Confirming a parcel's zoning district, Cherry Point industrial/fossil-fuel development restrictions, floodplain overlay status, and Conservation Easement Program eligibility.

Phone: (360) 778-5900Official website →

Septic / Onsite Wastewater