Assessment Comments
Assessment is based on results of water quality monitoring conducted from 2004 through 2006 on Walker Branch near Confidence (station RA-38) by Iowa State University/Limnology under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Rathbun Water Quality Project.
Basis for Assessment
[Note: Prior to the current (2008) Section 305(b) cycle, this stream segment was designated only for Class B(LR) aquatic life uses. Due to changes in Iowa’s surface water classification that were approved by U.S. EPA in February 2008 (see http://www.iowadnr.com/water/standards/files/06mar_swc.pdf), this segment is now designated for Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses. The stream remains designated for aquatic life uses (now termed Class B(WW2) aquatic life uses). Thus, for the current (2008) assessment, the available water quality monitoring data will be compared to the applicable Class A1 and Class B(WW2) water quality criteria.]
SUMMARY: The presumptive Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses are assessed (monitored) as "not supported" due to levels of indicator bacteria that violate state water quality criteria. The Class B(WW2) aquatic life uses are assessed (monitored) as "fully supported." The results of chemical/physical water quality monitoring conducted from 2002-2004 and from 2004-2006 suggest improving water quality conditions in Walker Branch. The assessment of these uses is based on results of water quality monitoring conducted from 2004 through 2006 on Walker Branch near Confidence (station RA-38) by Iowa State University/Limnology under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Rathbun Water Quality Project.
EXPLANATION: The presumptive Class A1 uses are assessed (monitored) as "not supported" based on results of ambient monitoring for indicator bacteria (E. coli). Due to recent changes in Iowa’s Water Quality Standards, Iowa’s assessment methodology for indicator bacteria has changed. Prior to 2003, the Iowa WQ Standards contained a high-flow exemption for the Class A criterion for indicator bacteria (fecal coliforms) designed to protect primary contact recreation uses: the water quality criterion for fecal coliform bacteria (200 orgs/100 ml) did not apply "when the waters [were] materially affected by surface runoff." Due to a change in the Standards in July 2003, E. coli is now the indicator bacterium, and the high flow exemption was eliminated and replaced with language stating that the Class A criteria for E. coli apply when Class A1, A2, or A3 uses “can reasonably be expected to occur.” Because the IDNR Technical Advisory Committee on WQ Standards could not agree on what flow conditions would define periods when uses would not be reasonably expected to occur, all monitoring data generated for E. coli during the assessment period, regardless of flow conditions during sample collection, will be considered for determining support of Class A uses for purposes of Section 305(b) assessments and Section 303(d) listings.
The geometric mean level of indicator bacteria (E. coli) in the 15 samples collected at station RA-38 during recreational seasons of 2004 through 2006 (465 orgs/100ml) exceeds the Iowa Class A1 water quality criterion of 126 orgs/100ml. Eleven of the 15 samples (73%) exceed Iowa’s single-sample maximum criterion of 235 orgs/100 ml. According to U.S. EPA guidelines for Section 305(b) reporting and according to IDNR’s assessment/listing methodology, if the geometric mean level of E. coli is greater than the state criterion of 126 orgs/100 ml., the primary contact recreation uses should be assessed as "not supported" (see pgs 3-33 to 3-35of U.S. EPA 1997b).
Regarding support of the Class B(WW2) aquatic life uses, none of the approximately 18 samples collected during the 2004-2006 assessment period violated Class B(WW2) criteria for dissolved oxygen, ammonia-nitrogen, or pH. Because previous assessment cycles had shown impairments in this waterbody related to low levels of dissolved oxygen (see assessments developed for the 2002 and 2004 assessment cycles), the 2002-04 and 2004-06 monitoring results suggest improving water quality conditions in this segment of Walker Branch.
Although this stream is not designated for Class C drinking water uses, Walker Branch does flow into Rathbun Reservoir which is used as a source of drinking water for a public water supply. Thus, the seasonal elevation of pesticide levels in Walker Branch and other tributaries of Rathbun Reservoir presents a continuing concern for full support of the Class C (drinking water) uses designated for the Chariton River immediately downriver from Rathbun Reservoir. Fortunately, however, the levels of atrazine in Walker Branch during the 2004-2006 period do not suggest a serious threat to support of drinking water uses in Rathbun Reservoir. For example, the mean level of atrazine in the 10 samples collected in 2004 at Station RA-38 (1.5 ug/l) was below the atrazine MCL of 3.0 ug/l; the maximum level of atrazine during this three-year period (2.3 ug/l)—also below the MCL-- occurred in the sample collected on May 19, 2004.
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