Assessment Comments

1992 stream use assessment in Howard County.

Basis for Assessment

Used a review of the field sheet from the June 1992 DNR stream use assessment in Howard County to upgrade the assessment of support of the Class B(LR) aquatic life uses from PS to FST due to (1) presence of a moderately diverse fish community (9 species from 3 families) for Class B(LR) streams in the Iowan Surface subecoregion (47c) and (2) presence of a majority of the expected fish taxa (6 of 10)* for streams in this region.  Thus, despite the moderate impacts to the physical characteristics of this stream from frequent pasturing of the riparian corridor and from frequent streambank erosion, the fish community present suggests that the Class B(LR) uses are fully supported.  Additional monitoring is needed to update this assessment and to better define the status of the aquatic communities and habitats.  

*[Members of the family Ictaluridae are very rare in streams of the northeastern Iowa river basins, regardless of ecoregion or subecoregion.  Thus, Ictalurids are removed from the list of expected fish taxa when assessing portions of these streams in the Iowan Surface subregion.]