Oregon DEQ last week submitted the final plan for the Klamath River to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for approval, expected by Jan. 20.

   DEQ officials during public meetings and in written responses said they understood the cost burden, but had to fulfill federal requirements in the Clean Water Act.  

   Downstream first

   The EPA approved California’s plan last week.

   Klamath Falls city officials told federal officials that establishing downstream pollution loads first forced the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to reduce upstream loads to nearly unattainable levels.

   The plans, called total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs, regulate how much pollution sources like municipal wastewater treatment facilities can release into water bodies each day.  

   Reducing pollution

   Oregon’s Klamath River TMDL regulates phosphorous , nitrogen, biological oxygen demand and temperature. The biggest problem for stakeholders is the phosphorous allocation; the order requires a 91 percent reduction from the current level.

   Stakeholders say it naturally exists in Upper Klamath Lake — 76 percent of the total load comes from the lake, compared to 3 percent from the city — so filtering it to the mandated degree is impossible.

   The city already meets biological oxygen demand requirements and can meet nitrogen and temperature requirements once it finishes planned improvements to the wastewater treatment facility.