Something that smelled like a wet dog that rolled in manure and a report of a pungent, foul odor that has persisted for the last 13 years are among the calls so far to a 24-hour "odor hot line." The city of Woodland set up the hot line this month to help investigate a recent flood of complaints about nasty smells in a place where urban growth has encroached on areas that once were strictly devoted to farming. "We have had a couple of issues about odor, but when you live in a food processing area and near sewer areas, you're going to get those problems every once in a while," said Marlin "Skip" Davies, vice mayor of Woodland, which is about 20 miles northwest of Sacramento.

Callers are urged to be specific - noting the time, place and wind direction when the odor was detected - and are asked to use descriptors, such as musty, pungent, compost-like, swampy or smelling of wet hay.

"Residents were complaining that it smelled awful, but they were not giving specifics," said Loida Osoteo, the city public environmental services manager, who also answers hot line calls. "Now when they say it stinks, they have to be more specific about what they smell."

The city uses the information to recommend solutions for reducing the smell, such as treating wastewater.

Residents who are unaccustomed to the stench of farm animals, manure and food processing facilities sometimes have problems when they move to once-rural areas, said Edward Thompson Jr., California state director of American Farmland Trust. He said although many states began adopting "Right to Farm" laws in the 1980s to protect farmers from lawsuits, most laws still protect the average resident.

In Woodland, the city's wastewater treatment plant and a tomato cannery near Interstate 5 have so far been identified as the two most stinky culprits, Osoteo said.

Still, odor problems in Woodland have improved over the past several years as farmers work on odor mitigation, said Davies, the vice mayor.