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Board
discusses Klamath Watershed
By JAMIE
GENTNER
Daily News Staff Writer
HORNBROOK – Area
residents from the
The Watershed Council works to support watershed health, community
economic development, fire management, recreation and other outdoor
pursuits, according to Leo Bergeron, chairman of the council’s Board
of Directors.
“Our goal is to protect and enhance not only the physical structure of
the watershed, but also the status of community,” he said. “We want
to help make this an economically viable community as well as a
community that protects the watershed.”
To start the meeting, Dr.
Ken Rykbost, a retired director of the Oregon State Klamath Experimental
Station (KES), gave a presentation entitled “Nutrient Loading in the
Rykbost worked in the
“This presentation will give vital information about the area we live
in,” Bergeron told those in attendance at the meeting. “It will show
how nature and man has an effect on water quality.”
The environmental issues
facing the area are driven by political and regulatory forces, Rykbost
reported. Some of those forces include such laws as the federal Clean
Water Act that requires 303D listings and TMDL processes, Oregon Senate
bill 1010 with its Private Property Agricultural Management plans and
the Endangered Species Act.
Issues of concern in the upper Klamath include phosphorous enrichment
that supports blue-green algae, pH levels above 9.0, dissolved oxygen
levels below 4.0 mg/l, high ammonia concentrations and high
temperatures.
The study conducted by KES and Klamath tribes from 1991 to 2000
“investigated nutrient loading from drainage of agricultural lands
adjacent to Klamath Lake, natural background sources including major
springs and several artesian wells, and loading to the Klamath
Irrigation Project from diversions out of Klamath Lake and Klamath
River,” according to a text version of the presentation on the KES Web
site.
The results were compared
to other major studies about nutrient loading by Miller and Tash of the
United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1965-66, and Snyder and Morace
of the USGS in 1993-95.
The KES study found that their data was well within range of data from
previous studies, Rykbost’s presentation concluded. Nutrients were
almost as high, even after cattle had been removed from one area.
“Findings indicate contributions from agricultural lands adjacent to
After his presentation,
Rykbost answered questions.
“If blue-green algae is such a problem, why don’t we see the deer
being affected when they drink it all the time,” one woman in
attendance asked.
Rykbost reported that, throughout most of the year, the concentration of
the algae isn’t high enough to have much of an affect on those
drinking the water.
“When it’s in high
concentration, you definitely don’t want to drink it, but most of the
time there’s not enough to do much harm,” he said. “That’s why
concentration levels need to be highly monitored.”
Rykbost also answered questions about odor, temperature and the dams’
affect on nutrients.
Finally, he was asked about a solution to the problem.
“The National Academy
of Sciences committee met to study these findings in 2001 ... and during
that meeting, the chair said that you won’t really be able to get the
phosphorous level low enough to get rid of the blue-green algae
completely,” he said. “So, we just have to keep seeking
solutions.”
Bergeron said the presentation and information Rykbost provided was
beneficial to those in attendance.
“The purpose of the presentation was an attempt to educate the average
person involved in the process and dealing with the problems we are
incurring today,” he said. “I think he did an excellent job,
especially in providing the clarification that the blue-green algae is a
natural occurrence – that the source of phosphorous is not purely an
act of man but of nature.”
The meeting continued,
with the main agenda item being an update on the progress of a watershed
plan.
The council is seeking a grant from the Department of Fish and Game to
develop the plan that would look for ways to support their goal of
improving and protecting the physical land, economic growth and people
in the area. The plan will be developed over a period of years. A
committee will be assembled to help guide the direction of the plan, and
the council board is currently looking for community members interested
in serving on that board.
“Once we get the plan put together, we will take it to the
Bergeron also reported on
the accomplishments of the board since the beginning of the year, which
include participating in the Federal Land Use Advisory Committee
meetings, speaking at the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control
Board meetings, writing letters to Congress regarding several bills and
more.
“We having just been sitting around having coffee and tea; we’ve
kept pretty busy,” Bergeron said. “But our main thrust right now has
to be this watershed plan. Once we have that in place, we’ll have
ground to work from.”
The council meets the first Monday of every month at the Hornbrook
Grange at
For more information
about the Upper Mid Klamath Watershed Council and their watershed plan,
call Bergeron at 842-4400.
To view the written document of Rykbost’s presentation, visit www.oregonstate.edu/dept/kes.
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those
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expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for
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research and educational purposes only. For more information go
to:http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Source:
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/articles/2007/08/22/news/doc46cc6009c6880590549171.txt