_{Thumbnail photo: Ninety-five percent of the world’s Easter lily bulbs are produced in the Smith River area. | Photo courtesy of the North Coast Water Quality Control Board}

Updated at 8:02 a.m. Wednesday to correct the workshop location. The workshop will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Elk Valley Rancheria Sam Lopez Community Center, 2332 Howland Hill Road in Crescent City.

State water quality scientists are seeking public comment on proposed regulations aimed at controlling waste discharge from the Easter lily bulb industry into the lower Smith River basin.

North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board representatives will hold a public workshop Wednesday focusing on Draft General Waste Discharge Requirements for Commercial Lily Bulb operations in the Smith River Plain.

Also known as the Lily Bulb Order, draft discharge requirements seek to “protect and restore beneficial uses, such as cold freshwater habitat in the Smith River Plain,” according to the state agency’s Feb. 5 news release.  

“Lily bulb operations have the potential to discharge pollutants to surface water and groundwater from stormwater runoff, the application of pesticides and fertilizer, erosion of sediment and removal and suppression of riparian vegetation,” the news release states.

The workshop is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Flynn Center Elk Valley Rancheria’s Sam Lopez Community Center, 2332 Howland Hill Road in Crescent City, and coincides with a 45-day written public comment period that started Jan 30 and will end March 16. A draft environmental impact report on the proposed Lily Bulb Order is also available for public review and comment by clicking here. 

The meeting will also be streamed live 

“The Lily Bulb Order would establish a regulatory mechanism, in the form of General Waste Discharge Requirements with requirements, prohibitions and provisions that would require: (1) enrollment and payment of fees; (2) implementation and adaptation of management practices; and (3) monitoring and reporting,” the draft environmental impact report states.

According to Brenna Sullivan, engineering geologist with the water board, since the Lily Bulb Order is still in draft form, growers have yet to enroll or pay fees associated with it.

Following the public comment period, the final order is expected to go before the Water Quality Control Board in August.

“The Board may adopt it at that time or send it back for more revisions,” Sullivan said Tuesday.

As of 2014, the coastal plain near the mouth of the Smith River has produced roughly 95% of the world’s Easter lily bulbs. They’re farmed on approximately 1,000 acres in the region with 160 acres planted in any given year. The crop is grown on a three-to-five year rotation.

The watershed also supports habitat for coho salmon, tidewater goby and eulachon while the tributaries and estuary host juvenile salmonids. 

While the water quality control board’s efforts to address the environmental impacts as a result of the lily bulb industry in 2011, it began developing the Lily Bulb Order in 2023 by forming a technical advisory group. That group consisted of growers, conservationists, tribal representatives and state, federal and county agencies. 

Water Board scientists also held a public meeting in Smith River on Oct. 21, 2024 before presenting information to the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 22, 2024. Another public meeting was held in October 2025 focusing on a Smith River Plain Surface Water Monitoring Study and providing an update on the Lily Bulb Order.

At the October 2024 public meeting in Smith River, residents focused on their own adverse experiences with copper diuron and other pesticides and fertilizers the lily bulb industry uses.

Residents complained of skin rashes, nausea, respiratory issues and friends and neighbors battling cancer. One person blamed the pesticides and fertilizers for his dead bees. 

On Tuesday, Sullivan said those who submit public comments in writing will receive a formal response in writing. People attending the public workshop either in person or via Zoom can also provide testimony. Though they may not receive a written response, Sullivan said they will be taken into consideration.