Storm Lake IA 04-RAC-1143

Buena Vista County S14T90NR37W at Storm Lake.

Open Data Collection Period Modal

For purposes of developing stream/river water quality assessments for integrated reporting, three years of water quality data are typically used for both conventional pollutant parameters (e.g., indicator bacteria) and the less frequently monitored toxic parameters (e.g., toxic metals). Since the 2004 IR cycle, DNR has used a three-year data gathering period for streams, rivers, and beaches. For most assessments, the use of three years of data increases the number of samples upon which the decision on use support is based and helps address the problem of weather-related year-to-year fluctuations in water quality.

Due to the lower sampling frequency in Iowa’s ambient lake, biological, fish kill, and fish tissue monitoring programs, five years of data are used for developing IR assessments and for identifying Section 303(d) listings.

Data Type	Data Timeframe
Beach Sampling Data	CY 2018 - 2020
Stream/River Water Quality Data	CY 2018 - 2020
Lake Water Quality Data	CY 2016 - 2020
Biological Sampling Data	CY 2016 - 2020*
Fish Kill Data	CY 2016 - 2020
Fish Tissue Sampling Data	CY 2016 - 2020
Continuous Dissolved Oxygen Sampling Data	CY 2016 - 2020
*Biological sites sampled in both 2015 and 2019 were also assessed.

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Cycle: 2022
Release Status: Final
Overall IR: 5 - Water is impaired or threatened and a TMDL is needed.
Trophic: Eutrophic
Trend: Stable
Created: 12/28/2021 1:26:20 PM
Updated: 1/5/2022 2:36:34 PM

Use Support

Class A1

Recreation - Primary contact

Not Supported

Bacteria: Indicator Bacteria- E. coli

Support Level

Not Supported

Impairment Code

5a - Pollutant-caused impairment. TMDL needed.

Cause Magnitude

Moderate

Status

Continuing

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

Moderate

Cycle Added

2010

Impairment Rationale

Geometric mean criterion exceeded

Data Source

Beach monitoring: Iowa DNR city/county

TMDL Priority

Tier II

Turbidity

Support Level

Not Supported

Impairment Code

4a - Pollutant-caused impairment. TMDL has been completed.

Cause Magnitude

High

Status

Continuing

Source

Other: Sediment Resuspension

Source Confidence

High

Cycle Added

2002

Impairment Rationale

Narrative criteria violation: aesthetically objectionable conditions

Data Source

Ambient monitoring: Iowa DNR-lakes

Class BLW

Aquatic Life - Lakes and wetlands

WINOFI

Turbidity

Support Level

Further Investigation Needed

Impairment Code

3b - Use potentially impaired based on an evaluated assessment.

Cause Magnitude

High

Status

Continuing

Source

Other: Sediment Resuspension

Source Confidence

High

Cycle Added

2002

Impairment Rationale

Adverse impacts on plant/animal communities

Data Source

Biological monitoring: Iowa DNR Fisheries

Class HH

Human Health -

Fully Supported

Impairment Delistings

No delistings for this assessment cycle.

Documentation

Assessment Summary

The Class A1 use was assessed (monitored) as “not supported” due to poor water transparency caused by inorganic suspended solids that violates Iowa’s narrative water quality standard protecting against aesthetically objectionable conditions and levels of indicator bacteria at a swimming beach that exceeded the state water quality criteria. The Class BLW use was assessed (evaluated) as “WINOFI” (IR 3b) due to excessive nutrient loading to the water column and re-suspension of sediment. The Class HH (fish consumption) use was assessed as "fully supported" based on fish tissue sampling data. Note: A TMDL for turbidity at Storm Lake was prepared by DNR and approved by EPA in 2005; thus, this impairment is placed in IR Category 4a (impaired; TMDL approved) for the current assessment/ listing cycle. Because however, the bacteria impairment is not addressed by the TMDL, this impairment will be placed in Category 5a of the this Integrated Report (i.e., Section 303(d) list).

Assessment Explanation

Data Sources:

Data Source	Data Source ID	Data Type	Data Age	Site ID	Site Name	Site Description
Iowa DNR	6	WQ	CY 2018-2020	14000121	Frank Starr Park Beach
Iowa DNR	6	WQ	CY 2018-2018	21110004	Awaysis Beach
Iowa DNR	6	WQ	CY 2018-2018	21110005	Bel Air Beach
Iowa DNR	6	WQ	CY 2018-2018	21110006	Casino Beach
Iowa DNR	6	WQ	CY 2018-2018	21110008	Edson Park Beach
Iowa DNR	6	WQ	CY 2018-2018	21110009	Old Water Plant Beach
Iowa DNR	6	WQ	CY 2016-2020	22110001	Storm Lake Max Depth
Iowa DNR	6	FT	See Below	130	Storm Lake	At Storm Lake

Class A1 - Indicator Bacteria:

Site ID

Data Source ID

# Samples per Year (2018/ 2019/2020)

2018 Geometric Mean

2019 Geometric Mean

2020 Geometric Mean

Violates Annual Geometric Mean?

# 2018 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

# 2019 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

# 2020 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

Violates Annual SSM Significantly >10% Rule?

Assessment Type

Support Level

14000121

4/4/5

148

YES

1 / NA

2 / NA

YES

Evaluated

Not

21110004

9/9/10

335

365

YES

7 / 3

1 / 3

5 / 3

YES

Monitored

Not

21110005

8/8/6

1 / 3

2 / 3

1 / NA

Monitored

Full

21110006

7/5/5

0 / 3

0 / NA

Monitored

Full

21110008

7/9/7

228

YES

0 / 3

1 / 3

5 / 3

YES

Monitored

Not

21110009

2/3/3

0 / NA

Evaluated

Full

22110001

3/3/3

0 / NA

Evaluated

Full

Class A1 - pH:

Site ID	Data Source ID	# Samples / # Years	Minimum Value	Maximum Value	Mean Value	# Violations	Violations needed for impairment	Violates Significantly >10% Rule?	Assessment Type	Support Level
22110001	6	15 / 5	7.9	8.5	8.2	0	4	NO	Monitored	Full

Class A1 - Lake TSI's:

Site ID	Data Source ID	Parameter Name	# Samples / # Years	Minimum Value	Maximum Value	Median Value	Median TSI Violation?	Assessment Type	Support Level
22110001	6	Chlorophyll a TSI	15 / 5	26	65	48	NO	Monitored	Full
22110001	6	Secchi TSI	15 / 5	59	83	70	YES	Monitored	Not
22110001	6	Total Phosphorus TSI	15 / 5	55	77	65	NA	NA	NA
22110001	6	Inorganic suspended solids	15 / 5	0.7	19	13.2	NA	NA	NA

Class BLW - Conventional Parameters:

Site ID	Data Source ID	Parameter Name	# Samples / # Years	Minimum Value	Maximum Value	Mean Value	# Violations	# Acute / Chronic Violations	Violations needed for impairment	Violates Significantly >10% Rule?	Assessment Type	Support Level
22110001	6	Ammonia	15 / 5	0.0003	0.2148	0.04	NA	0 / 0	4	NO	Monitored	Full
22110001	6	Dissolved Oxygen	14 / 5	6.9	23.3	9.6	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Monitored	Full
22110001	6	pH	15 / 5	7.9	8.5	8.2	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Monitored	Full
22110001	6	Temperature	15 / 5	12.4	27.7	21.2	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Monitored	Full

Class BLW - Lake Planktonic Cyanobacteria:

Site ID	Data Source ID	# Samples	Maximum Cyanobacteria Wet Mass	Maximum Cyanobacteria % Composition	Median Cyanobacteria Wet Mass	Median Cyanobacteria % Composition	Median Cyanobacteria Concentration = 75th Percentile	Assessment Type	Support Level
22110001	6	6	2.78	57.2%	1.30	22.5%	NO	Evaluated	NA

Class HH - Fish Tissue Sampling:

Site ID	Biopart	Year	Species	# in sample / # of samples	Avg Length (cm)	(Avg) Hg (ppm)	Chlordane (ppm)	Sum PCBs (ppm)
130	fillet	2011	channel catfish	5	42.6	0.045	0.03	0.09
130	tissue plug	2019	walleye	20	49.5	0.082
Support Level	Full

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

5/16/2016

Fixed Monitoring Start Date

8/25/2020

Fixed Monitoring End Date

9/26/2011

Fish Tissue Monitoring

5/3/2005

TMDL Completed

7/1/2019

Fish Tissue Monitoring

Methods

120

Surveys of fish and game biologists/other professionals

222

Non-fixed-station monitoring (conventional during key seasons and flows)

260

Fish tissue analysis

340

Primary producer surveys (phytoplankton/periphyton/macrophyton)

420

Indicator bacteria monitoring