Cleaning up water
Area TMDL plan won’t address temperature for the time being
By LARRY MEYER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Saturday, July 19, 2008 10:19 PM PDT
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| The Malheur River flows lazily east of Vale at its normal summertime level as water is taken out for irrigation. Water temperatures will not be an issue for this stretch of the river this time around in the Total Maximum Daily Load plan being developed for the Malheur River Basin. |
ONTARIO — For now, the focus on Malheur River Basin Total Maximum Daily Load plan for temperatures will touch mostly the upper reaches of the basin as Oregon Department of Environmental Quality officials said they do not have enough data to determine locations where water temperature does not meet federal water quality standards and the reasons behind that.
For now their work on temperature TMDLs will focus on streams above the Warm Springs and Beulah reservoirs, John Dadoly, DEQ basin coordinator said, plus three other streams listed as being in noncompliance.
The temperature TMDL is the maximum temperature the water can be and still meet water quality standards. Temperature standards for designated fish uses include 68 degrees Fahrenheit for redband trout, 60.8 degrees Fahrenheit for core cold water and 53.6 degrees Fahrenheit for bull trout spawning and rearing.
“It does not mean they will never be addressed,” Dadoly said, referring to the temperature issue for the remaining Malheur Basin. “We will come back and do those later. We didn’t have enough resources to work on that.”
Through much of Thursday’s session on the TMDL, Dadoly talked a lot about the proper functioning condition or proper functioning streams that, among other things, have adequate or stable vegetation and good water quality and good water availability. The proper functioning condition is not the desired condition, it is a prerequisite to achieving desired condition, he explained.
“The amount of vegetation is the only way we can affect temperatures,” Dadoly said.
However, rancher Jim Bentz pointed out water must be available first, stream restoration would likely produce the water first and depth may also affect temperature. It is not just shade, he noted.
Bentz also said that removal of junipers would also help improve stream flows.
“What can we eliminate?” he said.
Jerry Estrom, a member of the Malheur Watershed Council, said any TMDL needs to acknowledge there are some problems that cannot be changed.
Dadoly said part of the process included deciding what is possible and reasonable.
“We will decide if that plan is reasonable,” he said.
“We will determine the potential as we work through the document.”
The temperature issue will be taken up again at the meeting in August.
