Iowa DNR
ADBNet

Water Quality Assessments

Impaired Waters List

Hickory Creek IA 01-NMQ-110

mouth (S21 T89N R2W Dubuque Co.) to confluence with unnamed tributary in S14 T89N R2W Dubuque Co.

Assessment Cycle
2024
Release Status
Pending
Data Collection Period
Overall IR Category
5 - Water is impaired or threatened and a TMDL is needed.
Trend
Unknown
Created
11/1/2023 8:12:28 AM
Updated
1/24/2024 9:39:09 AM
Assessment conducted in accordance with Iowa's 2024 IR methodology.
Use Support
Class A1
Presumptive Use
Not Assessed
Class BWW2
Not Supported
Biological: low fish & invert IBIs- cause unknown
Support Level
Not Supported
Impairment Code
5b-t - Biological - tentative
Cause Magnitude
Moderate
Status
Continuing
Source
Unknown: Source Unknown
Source Confidence
Low
Cycle Added
2004
Impairment Rationale
Low Biotic Index
Data Source
Biological monitoring: Iowa DNR WQMA
TMDL Priority
Tier IV
Impairment Delistings
No delistings for this assessment cycle.
Documentation
Assessment Summary

The Class BWW2 use was assessed as “not supported” based on biological sampling data. All other designated uses were "not assessed."

Assessment Explanation

Data Sources:

Data Source

Data Source ID

Data Type

Data Age

Site ID

Site Name

Site Description

Iowa DNR

6

BIO

See Below

203

Hickory Creek

New Vienna – HI2


Presumptive Class A1 - No Data


Class BWW2 - Biological Sampling:

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:

BioNet Site ID

Date

Drainage Area (mi2)

Ecoregion

Major Drainage

BM Sample Gear

BMIBI score

BMIBI Class

47c BMIBI BIT

BMIBI Pass/Fail

203

9/18/08

13

47c

MS

Hess

66

Good

70

Fail

203

8/11/99

13

47c

MS

Hess

52

Fair

70

Fail


Fish:

BioNet Site ID

Date

Drainage Area (mi2)

Ecoregion

Major Drainage

Riffle Stream?

FIBI score

FIBI Class

47c FIBI BIT

FIBI Pass/Fail

203

9/18/08

13

47c

MS

Yes

42

Fair

65

Fail

203

8/11/99

13

47c

MS

Yes

37

Fair

65

Fail


Overall Assessment:

Community

Assessment Type

Assessment Result

Support Level

IR Category

Reason

Benthic Macroinvertebrates

Evaluated

Fail (0/2)

Not

Fish

Evaluated

Fail (0/2)

Not

Assessment was evaluated because it was based on

Overall

Evaluated

Fail

Not

5bt

samples greater than five years old.


Class BWW2 - Fish kill Assessment:

BioNet Site ID

Date

Drainage Area (mi2)

Ecoregion

Major Drainage/ Thermal

Fish per mile

47c REMAP 25 % fish per mile

> 47c REMAP 25 % fish per mile?

2024 IR 47c expected fish taxa

Fish Taxa Present % (>50% to pass)

1398

09/20/22

15.4

47c

MS/WW

4741

2992

Yes (Pass)

10/12

83% (Pass)

The Class BWW2 use previously resided in Category 4d based on a fish kill that occurred in 2017. Restitution was paid by the responsible party placing the fish kill in Category 4d. This segment’s fish community was sampled in 2022 as part of the DNR fish kill follow-up sampling program. The results from this follow-up sampling and comparison to ecoregion averages suggest that the fish community of this segment is similar to non-fish kill impacted streams. Based on the fish kill follow-up sampling results, the category for this BWW2 fish kill assessment was changed from 4d to 3a (not assessed).


Details about the 2017 fish kill can be found here: https://programs.iowadnr.gov/fishkill/Events/940

Monitoring and Methods
Assessment Key Dates
8/11/1999 Biological Monitoring
9/18/2008 Biological Monitoring
10/9/2017 Fish Kill
9/20/2022 Biological Monitoring
Methods
140 Incidence of spills and/or fish kills
150 Monitoring data more than 5 years old
315 Regional reference site approach
320 Benthic macroinvertebrate surveys
330 Fish surveys