Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River IA 01-TRK-138

Alternate name(s) for this segment: Bankston Creek

from west line of S31 T90N R1E (Dubuque Co.) to north line of S33 T90N 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: 12/13/2021 9:51:19 AM
Updated: 2/11/2022 7:43:25 AM

Use Support

Class A1

Presumptive Use

Recreation - Primary contact

Not Assessed

Class A2

Recreation - Secondary contact

Not Assessed

Class BCW1

Aquatic Life - Cold Water Type 1

Not Supported

Biological: low aquatic macroinvertebrate IBI

Support Level

Not Supported

Impairment Code

5b-v - Biological - verified

Cause Magnitude

Moderate

Status

Continuing

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

Low

Cycle Added

2006

Impairment Rationale

Low Biotic Index

Data Source

Biological monitoring: Iowa DNR WQMA

TMDL Priority

Tier IV

Organic Enrichment: Low Dissolved Oxygen

Support Level

Further Investigation Needed

Impairment Code

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

Cause Magnitude

Moderate

Status

Continuing

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

Low

Cycle Added

2016

Impairment Rationale

Significantly > 10% of days fail to meet 16-hour criteria

Data Source

Special project/study: Iowa DNR

Temperature: Water

Support Level

Further Investigation Needed

Impairment Code

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

Cause Magnitude

Moderate

Status

Continuing

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

Low

Cycle Added

2016

Impairment Rationale

Significantly > 10% of samples fail to meet criterion

Data Source

Special project/study: Iowa DNR

Class HH

Human Health -

Not Assessed

Impairment Delistings

No delistings for this assessment cycle.

Documentation

Assessment Summary

The Class BCW1 use was assessed as "not supported" based on based on biological sampling data and "fully supported" based on continuous dissolved oxygen monitoring 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	419	Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River	Rickardsville – REMAP #261

Class A1 - No Data

Class A2 - No Data

Class BCW1 - Biological Sampling:

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:

BioNet Site ID	Date	Drainage Area (mi2)	Ecoregion	Major Drainage/Thermal	BM Sample Gear	CBI score	CBI Class	CBI BIT	CBI Pass/ Fail
419	8/31/16	13	52b	MS/CW	Hess	45	NA	60	Fail
419	7/18/16	13	52b	MS/CW	Hess	49	NA	60	Fail
419	9/4/12	13	52b	MS/CW	Hess	35	NA	60	Fail
419	7/23/12	13	52b	MS/CW	Hess	42	NA	60	Fail

Overall Assessment:

Community	Assessment Type	Assessment Result	Support Level	IR Category	Reason
Benthic Macroinvertebrates	Evaluated	Fail (0/4)	Not	5bv	Assessment was evaluated because it included samples not collected in the last five years.

Class BCW1 - Trout Reproduction:

Based on the January 2021 trout reproduction in Iowa streams summary prepared by the DNR Fisheries Bureau, the Class BCW1 coldwater aquatic life use of Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River (a.k.a. Bankston Cr.) was assessed as "fully supported." According to the updated summary, this stream was placed in Category I: streams that exhibit consistent natural reproduction and maintain a wild population of one or more trout species without any stocking.

Class BCW1 – Continuous DO Monitoring:

Site ID	Data Source ID	# Days Monitoring (2016/2017/2018/ 2019/2020)	DO Criteria Type	# 2016 violations/ Violations needed for impairment	# 2017 violations/ Violations needed for impairment	# 2018 violations/ Violations needed for impairment	# 2019 violations/ Violations needed for impairment	# 2020 violations/ Violations needed for impairment	Violates Annual Significantly >10% Rule?	Assessment Type	Support Level
			24 hr	4/12	NA	NA	NA	NA	No
419	6	72/0/0/0/0	16 hr	0/12	NA	NA	NA	NA	No	Evaluated	Full

Class HH - No Data

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

7/23/2012

Biological Monitoring

7/10/2012

Non-fixed Monitoring Start Date

9/15/2012

Non-fixed Monitoring End Date

7/18/2016

Biological Monitoring

8/31/2016

Biological Monitoring

9/4/2012

Biological Monitoring

1/1/2021

Biological Monitoring

Methods

120

Surveys of fish and game biologists/other professionals

222

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

315

Regional reference site approach

320

Benthic macroinvertebrate surveys

330

Fish surveys