Lawmakers from the Klamath Basin say regulatory agencies are putting the economic future of communities at risk with restrictions that are difficult and costly to achieve.

   State Rep. Bill Garrard, R - Klamath Falls, said lawmakers are making their concerns known to the state Department of Environmental Quality.

   “We are holding up DEQ’s budget in protest,” said Garrard, who is co-vice chair of the budget writing Ways and Means Committee.

   He believes it’s unfair to hit Klamath Falls water users with a sharp rate increase due to federal restrictions on phosphorous in the Klamath River.  

   State Sen. Doug Whitsett, R - Klamath Falls, agreed.

   “(The Environmental Protection Agency) sets these standards that everyone knows are not achievable,” he said. “I don’t think anyone with common sense thinks you can get” to those mandates.

   To meet pollution guidelines for the Klamath River, the city of Klamath Falls would need to install technology at its wastewater treatment plant to filter phosphorus from the water. That would cost at least $6 million.

   The city already has plans to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant, a $40 million project.

   But state and federal government officials say efforts to improve the Klamath River’s water quality are in line with guidelines put in place more than 30 years ago.  

   Total maximum daily load (TMDL) reports compiled since the early 2000s have shown the Klamath River contains high levels of phosphorus. TMDL refers to the highest amount of pollution that can be present in a water body and still meet EPA attainment levels.

   Eric Nigg, water quality manager for the Oregon DEQ, said while some phosphorus is naturally occurring, there’s a direct relationship between emitters like Columbia Forest Products and the abnormally high phosphorus rate in the Klamath River.

   “For us what it really comes down to is whether or not we have appropriately followed our rules in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act,” he said.