The Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee was founded in 1964 in Whatcom County, Washington. It was founded as a fact-finding committee by residents of Lake Whatcom in response to a request from the Whatcom County Health Department and Whatcom County Planning Department that they form a sewer district. Reluctant property owners chose to establish a representative organization, the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee, to investigate sewer district formation and operation. Members of the committee appear to have been primarily residents of Lake Whatcom.

The primary mission of the committee was to  investigate how best to secure a clean and pure water supply from Lake Whatcom while protecting the financial interests of area residents. Committee members sought to determine how to obtain government help to meet these goals, and also sought community help in maintaining and preserving Lake Whatcom and its surrounding ecological resources.

The records of the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee deal in large part with the environmental and ecological implications of Lake Whatcom development, especially as regards water quality. This citizen group, led by their Chairman of the Executive Committee, Dr. B.J. Gilshannon, initiated and sponsored water quality and limnological testing of Lake Whatcom water in an effort to establish water quality standards. The committee also sought to educate politicians and government – from city through federal levels – on the importance of the complex Lake Whatcom issue.

A significant achievement of the committee was its work in reactivating the Whatcom County Regional Planning Council. Members of the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee hoped to sponsor water quality and sewer surveys at Lake Whatcom, and viewed the Whatcom County Regional Planning Council as an important partner in seeking funding and planning support for proposed surveys.

The Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee appears to have been active through at least 1969 (records cease when B.J. Gilshannon moved away from the area). By this date, despite the formation of Lake Whatcom Sewer District 10, committee members were still struggling to secure water quality testing and regulations for Lake Whatcom and the surrounding watershed.