North Branch Lizard Creek IA 04-UDM-1288

mouth (S2 T91N R31W Pocahontas Co.) to confluence with Drainage Ditch No. 169 in S6 T91N R31W Pocahontas Co.

Assessment Cycle

2024

Release Status

Final

Data Collection Period

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 2020 - 2022
Stream/River Water Quality Data	CY 2020 - 2022
Lake Water Quality Data	CY 2018 - 2022
Biological Sampling Data	CY 2018 - 2022*
Fish Kill Data	CY 2018 - 2022
Fish Tissue Sampling Data	CY 2018 - 2022
Continuous Dissolved Oxygen Sampling Data	CY 2018 - 2022
*Biological sites sampled in both 2017 and 2021 were also assessed.

Overall IR Category: 3 - Insufficient data exist to determine whether any designated uses are met.
Trend: Unknown

Created: 11/1/2023 8:14:05 AM
Updated: 12/21/2023 7:16:46 AM

Assessment conducted in accordance with Iowa's 2024 IR methodology

Use Support

Class A1

Recreation

Primary contact

Presumptive Use

Not Assessed

Class BWW2

Aquatic Life

Warm Water Type 2

WINOFI

Further Investigation Needed

Support Level

Water in Need of Further Investigation (WINOFI)

Impairment Code

3b-c - Use potentially biologically impaired based on calibrated IBI metrics.

Cause Magnitude

Moderate

Status

Continuing

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

N/A

Cycle Added

1996

Impairment Rationale

Low Biotic Index

Data Source

Biological monitoring: Iowa DNR WQMA

Impairment Delistings

No delistings for this assessment cycle.

Documentation

Assessment Summary

The Class BWW2 use was assessed as "WINFOI" 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	1334	North Branch Lizard Creek	Gilmore City

Presumptive Class A1 – No Data

Class BWW2 - Biological Sampling:

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:

Site ID	Date	Drainage Area (mi2)	Ecoregion	Major Drainage	BM Sample Gear	BMIBI score	BMIBI Class	47b BMIBI BIT	BMIBI Pass/Fail
1334	8/8/22	146.0	47b	MS	Surber	34	Fair	62	Fail

Fish:

Site ID	Date	Drainage Area (mi2)	Ecoregion	Major Drainage	Riffle Stream?	FIBI score	FIBI Class	47b FIBI BIT	FIBI Pass/Fail
1334	8/8/22	146.0	47b	MS	No	37	Fair	32	Pass

Overall:

Community	Assessment Type	Assessment Result	Support Level	IR Category	Reason
Benthic Macroinvertebrates	Evaluated	Fail (0/1)	WINOFI
Fish	Evaluated	Pass (1/1)	Full		Assessment was evaluated because
Overall	Evaluated	Fail	WINOFI	3bc	it was based on a single sample.

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

8/8/2022

Biological Monitoring

Methods

315

Regional reference site approach

320

Benthic macroinvertebrate surveys

330

Fish surveys