May 20, 2010

   Local officials should keep pushing back on the TMDL issue. Perhaps at some point, state and federal water-quality administrators will ask themselves if it really makes sense to force local residents to spend millions of scarce dollars to upgrade waste water facilities when the effluent going into the Klamath River is cleaner than the water that’s already there.

   If they force the city of Klamath Falls and the South Suburban Sanitary District to spend the money, they won’t get a significantly cleaner river. And, if the city and the district find an alternative to disposing of the treated effluent by some means other than discharging it into the Klamath River, the river will lose whatever benefits it gets from having the pollutants in the river diluted by the treated effluent.  

   Phosphorous, much of which occurs naturally in the upper Klamath Basin, is the main pollutant involved because it encourages algae growth. That hurts water quality and fish. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality puts much of the responsibility for the increased level of phosphorous in Upper Klamath Lake, where the Klamath River originates, on the conversion of wetlands to agriculture along the lake.

   There have been arguments both ways for years over how much of the phosphorous comes from natural sources and how much of it comes from agriculture. That debate will take on added importance because the Basin’s farmers and ranchers are included in the requirement to meet TMDLs — total maximum daily limits of pollutants, including phosphorous. It hasn’t yet been spelled out exactly what that means to agriculture yet.  

   But it has been spelled out for the city of Klamath Falls. The worst case scenario, which is considered unlikely, includes a figure of more than $100 million and a triple-digit monthly cost to homeowners.  

   Rates rapidly escalate

   Cost of waste water disposal for an average city ratepayer was recently raised $11 a month to $41.77. It is scheduled to go to $57.17 next year and the new TMDL standards are likely to raise it to $83.54. If the infamous worst case scenario occurs, that figure could double again.

   At a public hearing last week, local officials and others complained about the high cost of meeting the new standards and how little it would do to improve Klamath River water quality.

   State and federal officials say they’re compelled to act under requirements of the 1972 federal Clean Water Act. But shouldn’t it still make sense? Does it make sense to drain so much money out of the community for so little effect when there are so many other costly needs in Klamath Falls — like schools?  

   Klamath Falls public officials should keep fighting. So should other local officials as it becomes clearer how the law is going to affect others, such as the South Suburban Sanitary District, farmers and ranchers. Legislators, including U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Greg Walden should get involved. So should state legislators.

   We’re not saying repeal the Clean Water Act. That’d be foolish. But so is requiring cities to meet expensive standards that won’t make the water cleaner.