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J loads alone. A combination of alternative solutions, including aeration in the DWSC and modifying flow through the DWSC, should be considered as a way of providing a more cost-effective and practical solution. The BPTCP has given the Steering Committee the opportunity to suggest its own implementation plan, load allocation and other technical input to the Regional Board staff by December 2002. Staff will consider this and all further public input during development of its TMDL Report, which is due to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(U.S. EPA)by June of 2003, and during the subsequent Basin Plan amendment process for the TMDL implementation plan. Without acceptable input from the Steering Committee by December 2002, staff will develop its own TMDL and implementation plan based on discharge limitations and/or prohibitions of various types. Peer Review In the BPTCP, the Steering Committee was given the opportunity to form a Technical Advisory Committee and obtain funding for and perform scientific studies as needed to develop its suggested load allocation and implementation plan. Beginning in 1999, this Technical Advisory Committee,with funding from CALFED and other sources, performed a number of focused studies into the nature and causes of the dissolved oxygen problem in the DWSC. In June 2002 the Technical Advisory Committee,with support from CALFED,hosted a 2-day workshop to conduct a peer review of the most recent of these studies. The peer-review consisted of 6 nationally recognized academics in algal growth,water quality modeling, and engineering. The peer-reviewers concurred with the Technical Advisory Committee's conceptual model of the oxygen demanding mechanisms in the DWSC and a list of data and knowledge gaps identified by the studies. The findings of the peer review are an important validation of the studies, which form the basis of our current understanding of the sources and causes of the low dissolved oxygen problem in the DWSC. The peer-review workshop concluded with input from peer reviewers on how future studies and demonstration projects should be structured to gather the information needed to develop and implement this TMDL. Phased Implementation Plan Because of its size and complexity,the Steering Committee is considering proposing a phased approach to this TMDL for consideration by the Regional Board. Developed with input from staff, this phased approach would accommodate the realistic need to gather additional cost and performance information on possible alternative solutions beyond the dates currently scheduled for submission of the TMDL, while providing for improvement of dissolved oxygen conditions in the DWSC in the interim based on our current understanding of the problem. It would also allow the time necessary to re-evaluate the Basin Plan dissolved oxygen objective and, if determined appropriate,modify the objective through the required State and Regional Board processes. The initial phase of this phased approach would be focused on implementing alternatives designed to meet a numeric interim dissolved oxygen performance goal. This interim performance goal would be less stringent than the cun•ent Basin Plan dissolved oxygen objective, but, if attained,would be a significant improvement over current conditions