Water plan okayed

The EPA announced Tuesday it has approved a water improvement plan created by California’s North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board that sets total maximum daily loads of certain pollutants in the river.

“It’s a pollution diet for the river,” said Sue Keydel, an environmental scientist for the EPA.

Oregon’s  restoration plan for  its portion of the Klamath, starting from Klamath Falls and moving south, is expected to be adopted next month by the EPA.

The river flows 255 miles southwest from Oregon through Northern California where it empties into the Pacific Ocean south of the town of Klamath.

An abundance of nitrogen and phosphorous in the Klamath has contributed to an overgrowth of algae that has raised temperatures and reduced oxygen levels, especially in slow-moving areas of the Upper Klamath behind PacificCorp’s dam reservoirs, Keydel said.

Due to the pollutants, salmon are living in harsh conditions, Keydel said.

“The salmon are the driver of the protection,” said Keydel.

Excessive phosphorous and nitrogen levels occur naturally in the river, but hydroelectric, agricultural and timber industries also factor into the unhealthy amount of algae, gas and minerals in the river, said Gail Louis, an environment protection specialist for the EPA.

Fertilizer sedimentation into the basin, run-off from logging roads and dams slowing down  the movement of the water are a few of the elements polluting the water, Louis said.

PacificCorp, timber harvesters and farmers will be expected to implement plans to help reduce pollutant levels.

For instance, any company conducting timber harvesting will be required to meet shade allocation standards by ensuring there are enough trees providing shade along the bank of the river. That would lower temperatures along the river.

The California plan seeks to reduce daily phosphorus levels by 57 percent and nitrogen levels by 32 percent and calls for a 120,000-pound annual reduction of nitrogen and 22,000-pound reduction of phosphorous.

PacificCorp spokesman Art Sasse decried the plan’s daily load requirements Tuesday.

“We think there are significant errors in the underlying technical analysis,” said Sasse. “We have concerns the total maximum daily load allocations are inappropriate and unachievable.”

PacificCorp is already subject to daily load amounts as part of the license it must carry as a hydroelectric firm, he said.

PacificCorp will assess its options while keeping its customer’s interests in mind, Sasse said. The utility company serves much of the region, including Del Norte County.

The plan also addresses cold water refuges that salmon depend on to escape warm stretches of river.

Along with water improvement, the plan is designed to protect Native American cultural uses and enhance general recreational uses of the Klamath.

The Klamath restoration plan came from a collaboration of  Oregon, California and federal organizations after several conservation groups sued the EPA to force California to develop water quality standards for 17 salmon  rivers in the North Coast region, and a consent decree signed in 1997.

It comes on top of landmark agreements to remove four hydroelectric dams that block salmon from hundreds of miles of habitat, restore Klamath Basin ecosystems, and assure water for farmers on a federal irrigation project.