Assessment Comments
Assessment is based on: (1) results of water quality monitoring conducted from 2004 through 2006 on Jackson Creek near Bridgeport (station RA-39) by Iowa State University under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Kansas City District as part of the Rathbun Water Quality Project and (2) results of biological monitoring (fish surveys) conducted by the IDNR Fisheries Bureau from 1999-2002.
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 were assessed (evaluated) as "partially supported” based on (1) results of biological monitoring by the IDNR Fisheries Bureau and (2) information in U.S. EPA's May 23, 2006 letter transmitting Iowa's final 2004 Section 303(d) list. This sources of data for this assessment include (1) results of water quality monitoring conducted from 2004 through 2006 on Jackson Creek near Bridgeport (station RA-39) by Iowa State University under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Kansas City District as part of the Rathbun Water Quality Project and (2) results of biological monitoring (fish surveys) conducted by the IDNR Fisheries Bureau from 1999-2002.
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 26 samples collected at station RA-39 during recreational seasons of 2004 through 2006 (469 orgs/100ml) exceeds the Iowa Class A1 water quality criterion of 126 orgs/100ml. Seventeen of the 21 samples (65%) 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).
The Class B(WW2) aquatic life uses remain assessed (evaluated) as "partially supporting" based on biological data collected in 1999-2002 as part of a DNR Fisheries stream sampling project: Chariton research station. Despite results of chemical water quality monitoring that show “full support” of the Class B(WW2) uses, results of biological monitoring suggest only “partial support” of these uses. A series of biological metrics which reflect stream water quality and habitat integrity were calculated from the Fisheries sampling data. The biological metrics are based on the numbers and types of fish species that were collected in the stream sampling reach. The biological metrics were combined to make a fish community index of biotic integrity (FIBI). The index ranks the biological integrity of a stream sampling reach on a rising scale from 0 (minimum) to 100 (maximum). The 1999-2002 evaluated FIBI average score (n=7) was 28 (fair). The aquatic life use support was assessed (evaluated) as Partially Supporting (=PS), based on a comparison of the FIBI score with biological impairment criteria (BIC) established for previous Section 305(b) reports. The biological impairment criteria were determined from a statistical analysis of data collected at stream ecoregion reference sites from 1994-2004. The FIBI BIC for this ecoregion is 33.
Based on the results of biological monitoring by the IDNR Fisheries Bureau, the Class B(WW2) aquatic life uses remain assessed (evaluated) as impaired. Because the previous impairment due to violations of Class B(WW2) criteria for dissolved oxygen no longer exists, and because the current impairment of the Class B(WW2) uses is based on an “evaluated” assessment, the IDNR assessment/listing methodology indicates that this assessment segment should be placed into IR Category 3b (potentially impaired; in need of further investigation). In their May 23, 2006 transmittal letter for Iowa’s 2004 Section 303(d) list, however, U.S. EPA Region 7 informed IDNR that biological impairments based on bioassessment data from the IDNR Fisheries Bureau, even though IDNR/UHL bioassessment protocols were not strictly followed, should nonetheless be placed into IR Category 5. Thus, this waterbody was placed into Category 5b of Iowa’s 2006 Integrated Report and will remain on Iowa’s future Section 303(d) lists.
Results of ambient chemical/physical water quality monitoring conducted from 2004-2006 do not suggest impairments of the Class B(WW2) aquatic life uses of this stream segment. None of the nine samples collected during 2004 violated Class B(WW2) criteria for ammonia-nitrogen (maximum level = 0.5 mg/l). Two of 29 samples violated the Class B(WW2) criterion for dissolved oxygen (minimum value = 3.5 mg/l), and one of 31 samples violated the Class B(WW2) criterion: the sample collected on October 19, 2004 had a pH of 6.0 pH units. According to U.S. EPA guidelines for Section 305(b) water quality assessments (U.S. EPA 1997b, page 3-17), if 10% or less of samples exceed criteria for conventional parameters (e.g., dissolved oxygen and pH), uses are “fully supported”.
Although this stream is not designated for Class C drinking water uses, Jackson Creek does flow into Rathbun Reservoir which is designated for Class C uses. Thus, the seasonal elevation of pesticide levels in this stream and other tributaries of Rathbun Reservoir presents a continuing threat to full support of the Class C (drinking water) uses designated for Rathbun Reservoir. In contrast to mean levels of atrazine above the MCL in other tributaries of Rathbun Reservoir, the mean level of atrazine in the 11 samples collected in 2004 at Station RA-39 (1.3 ug/l) was below the atrazine MCL of 3 ug/l. The maximum level of atrazine during the 2004-2006 period was 6.4 ug/l of atrazine in the sample collected on May 26, 2004.
