Farmers, ranchers concerned about regs  

     Farmers and ranchers near the Lost River are wondering how new water pollution rules will affect them.

   The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality released Total Maximum Daily Load regulations for the Klamath and Lost rivers in February.  Irrigation districts, as well as the Bureau of Reclamation and the Oregon Department of Agriculture, are listed as designated management agencies in the document.

   Management agencies are required to produce a plan to address pollution in the river.

   The Lost River was found to violate standards for dissolved oxygen, and its tributaries were found to be too warm.

   Steve Kirk, DEQ Klamath Basin coordinator, said by removing some of the aquatic plants from irrigation canals, much of the problems with dissolved oxygen would be resolved.  

   “That would be one place to start,” he said.

   To address high water temperatures, other watersheds have planted trees to cast shade on the water. Those efforts have made measureable differences in temperature in smaller streams, said DEQ Water Quality Manager Eric Nigg.

   Klamath Water Users Association Outreach Coordinator Belinda Stewart questioned whether irrigation districts have any authority to implement water quality plans and whether they should be named in the TMDL document as responsible parties.

   “The districts are conveyance mechanisms for the water. They don’t add to or take anything out of the water,” she said.

   Basin farmer Luther Horsley questioned whether the standards proposed by DEQ for all the Klamath and Lost rivers TMDLs were realistic.

   “We might as well go beat our heads against the wall,” he said. “We’ve got to clean up God’s work 90 percent.”