Supervisors want clean water across the border 

According to the notice posted by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), up for approval are amendments to a Klamath Basin plan that would establish “(1) site specific water quality objectives for dissolved oxygen in the Klamath River; (2) an action plan for the Klamath River Total Maximum Daily Loads addressing temperature, dissolved oxygen, nutrient, and microcystin impairments in the Klamath River; and (3) an implementation plan for the Klamath and Lost River Basins.”

Specifically, the TMDLs address sources of identified pollutants in waterways and set targets for those sources, a goal triggered by the Klamath River being classified as “impaired” under Clean Water Act guidelines.

The first amendment changes six specific objectives for dissolved oxygen levels in the mainstem Klamath River, replacing them with different objectives based on site-specific measurements and temperatures estimated using a Klamath TMDL model. Dissolved oxygen, or DO, is required in water for fish and other life to survive, in varying levels depending on the species.

The second amendment up for approval is the addition of the action and implementation plans mentioned above.

According to a release from the SWRCB, comments must address only the amendments being considered, and if a comment is “similar or identical” to comments submitted in prior sessions, they must be accompanied by an explanation of why the response by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NWQCB), the agency responsible for creating the Klamath TMDLs, was not adequate in earlier drafts.

Comments must be submitted by noon July 21, to Jeanine Townsend at commentletters@waterboards.ca.gov or by mailing to State Water Resources Control Board, 1001 I St., Sacramento, CA 95814.

The board approved Natural Resources Policy Specialist Ric Costales putting together a packet of comments previously submitted by the board, along with new comments focusing on two issues – suction dredge mining claims affected by the TMDLs and water coming across the California-Oregon border.

Costales said that it was his understanding that in assessing the potential impacts to suction dredge mining, the NWQCB had failed to adequately count the correct number of claims, instead counting the number of mining groups, the members of which hold  numerous claims in the county.

The second issue centers on the water entering California from Oregon, where different standards apply despite a Memorandum of Understanding between the Oregon Department of Water Quality (DEQ) and the NWQCB.

Board Chair Marcia Armstrong, with the board of supervisors and Siskiyou County Flood Control and Water Conservation District convened jointly, suggested that the special district, which has jurisdiction over water quality, may be able to mandate that water crossing the border meet California water quality guidelines.