March 25, 2010
The North Coast Regional
Water Quality Control Board
has released new guidelines
and an action plan for
limiting different kinds of
water pollution in the
Klamath River.
The plan is designed to
restore and maintain water
quality in the Klamath River
Watershed in California and
Oregon.
The action plan includes
coordination with the Oregon
Department of Environmental
Quality and U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency to meet water quality
standards in both states,
and a proposed Management
Agency Agreement with the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and Tulelake
Irrigation District, to
address water quality in the
Lost River (a Klamath
tributary) in California.
Limits on various kinds
of pollution are set through
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL),
which place ceilings on
certain contaminants that
find their way into the
Klamath from different
sources.
The TMDLs specifically
address elevated stream
temperatures, low dissolved
oxygen levels, nutrient
enrichment and nuisance
blue-green algae blooms in
the Klamath River in
California, water quality
conditions which impair the
cold freshwater salmon
fishery, American Indian
cultural uses and
recreation.
The plan also addresses
water quality impacts of the
Klamath Hydroelectric
Project, Thermal Refugia
Protection Policy, and
conditional waivers
addressing nonpoint sources
of pollution -- such as
roads, agriculture and
activities on U.S. Forest
Service lands.
The Klamath River
originates in Oregon and
flows through Northern
California in Siskiyou,
Humboldt and Del Norte
counties, and is subject to
many natural and manmade
stresses.
I have dedicated my
academic and professional
career to studying rivers
and fluvial systems, said
Regional Water Board
Chairman Geoffrey Hales in
the press release. It is my
opinion that this TMDL is
built on the best available
science and is the correct
vehicle to attain water
quality standards and meet
statewide policy.
