Little Maquoketa River IA 01-TRK-131

mouth (Dubuque Co.) to confluence with Hogans Br. in S36 T89N R1W Dubuque Co.

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.
Trend: Unknown
Created: 12/21/2021 6:02:33 AM
Updated: 1/13/2022 9:42:15 AM

Use Support

Class A1

Presumptive Use

Recreation - Primary contact

Not Assessed

Class BWW1

Aquatic Life - Warm Water Type 1

Not Supported

Biological: low aquatic macroinvertebrate IBI

Support Level

Not Supported

Impairment Code

5b-v - Biological - verified

Cause Magnitude

Slight

Status

New

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

N/A

Cycle Added

2022

Impairment Rationale

Low Biotic Index

Data Source

Biological monitoring: Iowa DNR WQMA

TMDL Priority

Tier IV

Fish Kill: Cause Unknown

Support Level

Further Investigation Needed

Impairment Code

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

Cause Magnitude

Moderate

Status

New

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

N/A

Cycle Added

2022

Impairment Rationale

Potential Impairment

Data Source

Fish kill investigation: Iowa DNR

Class HH

Human Health -

Not Assessed

Impairment Delistings

No delistings for this assessment cycle.

Documentation

Assessment Summary

The Class BWW1 use was assessed as "not supported" based on biological sampling data. The Class BWW1 use was also assessed (evaluated) as “WINOFI” based on the results of a fish kill investigation. 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	40	Little Maquoketa River	Twin Springs Road - Dubuque

Presumptive Class A1 – No Data

Class BWW1 – Fish kill Assessment:

The Class BWW1 aquatic life use assessment based on the 2019 fish kill placed this segment in Category 3b. This assessment was “evaluated” because there was a single fish kill on this segment in the last five years. Segments assessed using “evaluated” assessments are placed in Category 3b and are added to the state list of Waters In Need Of Further Investigation (WINOFI). If no additional fish kills are reported in this segment for a 10-year period (2029), the Category will be changed from 3b to 3a (not assessed).

Details about the 2019 fish kill can be found here: https://programs.iowadnr.gov/fishkill/Events/980

Class BWW1 - Biological Sampling:

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:

Site ID	Date	Drainage Area (mi2)	Ecoregion	Major Drainage	BM Sample Gear	BMIBI score	BMIBI Class	52b BMIBI BIT	BMIBI Pass/ Fail
40	7/22/20	46	52b	MS	Hess	58	Good	61	Fail
40	9/13/16	46	52b	MS	Hess	52	Fair	61	Fail

Fish:

Site ID	Date	Drainage Area (mi2)	Ecoregion	Major Drainage	Riffle Stream?	FIBI score	FIBI Class	52b FIBI BIT	FIBI Pass/ Fail
40	7/22/20	46	52b	MS	NA	62	Good	52	Pass
40	9/13/16	46	52b	MS	NA	58	Good	52	Pass

Overall:

Community	Assessment Type	Assessment Result	Support Level	IR Category	Reason
Benthic Macroinvertebrates	Monitored	Fail (0/2)	Not
Fish	Monitored	Pass (2/2)	Not		Assessment was monitored because the assessment used multiple
Overall	Monitored	Fail	Not	5bv	samples collected in the last five years.

Class HH – No Data

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

7/22/2020

Biological Monitoring

9/13/2016

Biological Monitoring

8/9/2019

Fish Kill

Methods

120

Surveys of fish and game biologists/other professionals

140

Incidence of spills and/or fish kills

315

Regional reference site approach

320

Benthic macroinvertebrate surveys

330

Fish surveys

380

Quantitative physical habitat assessment