North River IA 04-LDM-1102

Assessment Comments

Stream use assessment.

Basis for Assessment

Used a review of the field sheets from the September 1990 DNR stream use assessments to upgrade the assessment of support of the Class B(LR) aquatic life uses from PS to FST due to (1) presence of fish communities of roughly the expected diversity (species/families:  9/3, 7/3) for streams in the Mississippi River portion of the Southern Iowa Rolling Loess Prairies subecoregion (47f) and (2) presence of a majority of the expected fish taxa (6 of 8 at both sites) for streams in this region.   Thus, depsite the moderate impacts to habitat quality from frequent streambank erosion and channel alterations, including channelization and pasturing of the riparian corridor, this stream supports the aquatic life expected in Class B(LR) streams.   The data upon which this assessment is based is more than 5 years old.   Additional monitoring is needed to update the assessment and to determine the status of the aquatic communities and habitats.