New pollution limits for the Klamath River could have severe economic consequences for the city of Klamath Falls and its suburban residents.

   To meet the new limits, the city and South Suburban Sanitary District would be required to spend millions of dollars to upgrade their wastewater treatment plants.

   The problem, community leaders say, is that the cost, estimated between $70 million and $200 million, doesn’t justify the outcome.

   The goal is to improve water quality by lowering phosphorus levels in the river.

   When phosphorus gets into rivers and especially lakes, it acts as a fertilizer for algae and plants in the water, officials say.     

   This can lead to oxygen depletion, suffocating fish and other aquatic life.

   In some cases, excess phosphorous can lead to blooms of blue green algae that produce toxins and poisons that can cause serious illness or death in pets, livestock, wildlife and humans.

   Sewage treatment plants can remove much of the phosphorus from wastewater, but cannot remove all of it.

   The new limits mandated by the EPA under the Clean Water Act are monitored by a TMDL, or total maximum daily load figure. The TMDL for the Klamath River was developed based on a pollution target for Upper Klamath Lake.

   The city and south suburban wastewater facilities contribute about 3 percent of total pollution   in the river, according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The majority of the pollution originates from Upper Klamath Lake.

   And that is the issue, local officials say.

   State Sen. Doug Whitsett, R - Klamath Falls, has argued the science used to develop the Upper Klamath Lake TMDL was faulty, and the city of Klamath Falls stated in comments submitted to DEQ that the Klamath River targets are potentially unachievable.

   DEQ representatives said there has been no discernible effect on phosphorus levels in   Upper Klamath Lake since the TMDL was finalized in 2002, and no change is expected for many decades.

   However, one of the only regulatory mechanisms available to DEQ to implement water quality standards are discharge permits.

   Once the Klamath River TMDL is finalized the permits will incorporate the new allowable pollution levels, and the treatment facility managers will likely have five years to comply with the new permits or find an alternative to releasing water to the river.