The Oregon Department of Agriculture and most of the irrigation districts in the Klamath Reclamation Project and the Bureau of Reclamation are required to modify their operations to meet the new pollution limits.

   DEQ Water Quality Manager Eric Nigg said those district are expected to come up with plans to address pollution.

   The Bureau of Reclamation has been actively involved in the development of the TMDL, and paid for a U.S. Geological Survey review of the modeling used by DEQ to create the TMDLs. That review caused a delay in the issuance of the draft for public review as DEQ was forced to revisit some of its assumptions based on USGS conclusions.

   Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Kevin Moore said the agency is waiting to see how DEQ will respond to the Bureau’s comments.

   “Questions remain regarding the modeling and load allocations, so it is difficult to know how much the final TMDL requirements might change as a result of the comments submitted to DEQ,” Moore said.  

   In its comments, the Bureau addresses changes in modeling and suggests the new version needs to be peer-reviewed. It also disputes a statement that says the Klamath Reclamation Project is detrimental to water quality, arguing that DEQ has no proof there is harm to water quality as a result of the Project.

   “The largest driving factor influencing Klamath River water quality (is) the massive amounts of nutrients and organic matter released from Upper Klamath Lake to the Klamath River,” the comments said.