Assessment Comments
Assessment is based on results of monitoring from May 2011 to November 2012 at STORET station 15220015 (LIT10) at Highway 52 approximately six miles south of Guttenberg in Clayton County.
Basis for Assessment
[Note: Prior to the 2008 Section 305(b) cycle, this stream segment was designated only for Class B(WW) aquatic life uses. Due to changes in Iowa’s surface water classification that were approved by U.S. EPA in February 2008, this segment is now presumptively designated for Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses. The stream remains designated for aquatic life uses (now termed Class B(WW1) aquatic life uses). Thus, for the current (2014) assessment, the available water quality monitoring data will be compared to the applicable Class A1 and Class B(WW1) water quality criteria.]
SUMMARY: The presumptive Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses are assessed (monitored) as “partially supported” due to levels of indicator bacteria that slightly exceed state water quality criteria. This is a new impairment for the previously unassessed stream. The Class B(WW1) aquatic life uses are assessed (monitored) as fully supported based on results of water quality monitoring from May 2011 to November 2012. Fish consumption uses remain not assessed due to lack of data upon which to base an assessment. The data used for this assessment are from STORET station 15220015 (LIT10) at Highway 52 approximately six miles south of Guttenberg in Clayton County.
EXPLANATION: The presumptive Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses are assessed (monitored) as "partially supported" based on levels of indicator bacteria that slightly exceeded state water quality criteria. The geometric means of indicator bacteria (E. coli) in the 15 samples collected during the recreational seasons of 2011 and 2012 at monitoring station 15220015 were as follows: the 2011 geometric mean of seven samples was 142 orgs/100 ml, and the 2012 geometric mean of eight samples was 415 orgs/100 ml. Both geometric means exceed the Class A1 criterion of 126 orgs/100 ml. Six of the 15 samples (40%) exceeded the Class A1 single-sample maximum criterion of 235 orgs/100 ml. According to U.S. EPA guidelines for Section 305(b) reporting and IDNR’s assessment/listing methodology, if a recreation season geometric mean exceeds the respective water quality criterion, the contact recreation uses should be assessed as "impaired" (see pgs 3-33 to 3-35 of U.S. EPA 1997b). Thus, because at least one recreation season geometric mean exceeded criteria for Class A1 uses, these uses are assessed as “impaired.”
Results of chemical/physical water quality monitoring in 2011 and 2012 do not suggest impairment of the Class B(WW1) aquatic life uses. Monitoring at station 15220015 (LIT10) showed no violations of Class B(WW1) water quality criteria for dissolved oxygen or pH in the approximately 15 samples analyzed. One of the 15 samples analyzed for ammonia violated the Class B(WW1) temperature/pH dependent criterion of 0.45 mg/l. The sample collected on August 3, 2011 contained 0.55 mg/l of ammonia and thus violated the chronic Class B(WW1) standard. According to U.S. EPA guidelines (U.S. EPA 1997b, page 3-17), a violation frequency of greater than 10% for conventional parameters such as ammonia and dissolved oxygen suggests impairment of aquatic life uses. Based on IDNR’s assessment methodology, however, these results suggest that the frequency of violations is not significantly greater than 10 percent; thus, these results do not suggest impairment of the Class B(WW2) aquatic life uses. Thus, the Class B(WW1) aquatic life uses are assessed (monitored) as “fully supported”.
The Class HH (fish consumption) uses remain “not assessed” due to the lack of information upon which to base an assessment.
