Prairie Lake IA 06-LSR-1647

Dickinson County S23T99NR36W 3.5 mi. SE of Spirit Lake.

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 2016 - 2018
Stream/River Water Quality Data	CY 2016 - 2018
Lake Water Quality Data	CY 2014 - 2018
Biological Sampling Data	CY 2014 - 2018*
Fish Kill Data	CY 2014 - 2018
Fish Tissue Sampling Data	CY 2014 - 2018
Continuous Dissolved Oxygen Sampling Data	CY 2014 - 2018
*Biological sites sampled in both 2013 and 2017 were also assessed.

Open Segment Map
View assessment methodology in new window

Cycle: 2020
Release Status: Final
Overall IR: 3 - Insufficient data exist to determine whether any designated uses are met.
Trend: Unknown
Created: 8/27/2020 2:47:29 PM
Updated: 10/13/2020 2:08:26 PM

Use Support

Class BLW

Aquatic Life - Lakes and wetlands

WINOFI

Support Level

Further Investigation Needed

Impairment Code

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

Cause Magnitude

Moderate

Status

New

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

N/A

Cycle Added

2020

Impairment Rationale

Significantly > 10% of samples fail to meet criterion

Data Source

Ambient monitoring: Iowa DNR-shallow lakes & wetlands

Class HH

Human Health -

Not Assessed

General Use

General Use water -

Not Assessed

Impairment Delistings

No delistings for this assessment cycle.

Documentation

Assessment Summary

The Class BLW use is assessed as "not supported" due to violations of the Class BLW criterion for pH. All other designated uses are “not assessed”.

Assessment Explanation

Sources of Data:

Data Source	Data Source ID	Data Type	Data Age	Site ID	Site Name	Site Description
Iowa DNR	6	WQ	CY 2016-2018	22300021	Prairie Lake

Class BLW - TSI's

Site ID	Data Source ID	Parameter Name	# Samples / # Years	Minimum Value	Maximum Value	Median Value	Median TSI Violation	Assessment Type	Support Level
22300021	6	Chlorophyll a TSI	10 / 2	24	82	57	NO	Assessor Discretion	Full
22300021	6	Total Phosphorus TSI	10 / 2	50	85	61	NA	NA	NA
22300021	6	Inorganic suspended solids	10 / 2	0	71.5	4.1	NA	NA	NA

The TSI value for Secchi depth is not used to evaluate the attainment of aquatic life goals in shallow lakes. Due to the depth of these shallow lakes, TSI values for Secchi depth can be misleading. In some instances, the Secchi disk remains visible at the bottom of the lake and the depth of the lake is recorded as the Secchi depth. In these instances, water clarity may be sufficient to support the Class BLW uses, but the index value is limited by the depth of the lake. Thus the combination of total suspended solids and chlorophyll a will be used to determine whether or not the Class B(LW) uses are impaired in these shallow systems.

Class BLW - Conventional Parameters:

Site ID	Data Source ID	Parameter Name	# Samples / # Years	Maximum Value	Mean Value	Median Value	# Acute / Chronic Violations	% Acute/ Chronic Violations	Significantly >10% Violations	Assessment Type	Support Level
22300021	6	Ammonia	5 / 1	0.3244	0.13	0.08	0 / 2	0% / 40%	NO	Evaluated	Full
22300021	6	Dissolved oxygen	5 / 1	9.7	8.4	8	NA / 0	NA / 0%	NO	Evaluated	Full
22300021	6	pH	5 / 1	12.08	10.73	10.3	5 / NA	100% / NA	YES	Evaluated	Not
22300021	6	Temperature	5 / 1	24.7	21.7	22.7	0 / 0	0% / 0%	NO	Evaluated	Full

Class BLW - Protection of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation:

Site ID	Data Source ID	Parameter Name	# Samples / # Years	Minimum Value	Maximum Value	Median Value	Median Value >= SAV	Assessment Type	Support Level
22300021	6	Total suspended solids	10 / 2	1.4	186.5	8.9	NO	Monitored	Full

Guidelines for wetland assessment from the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee’s Water Quality Technical Section (2003) state that an average total suspended solids concentration during the growing season of less than 30 mg/L is necessary to provide sufficient water clarity to support the growth of submersed aquatic vegetation in wetlands and shallow lakes. High levels of total suspended solids impede the growth of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV). Submersed aquatic vegetation is critical to the health of wetland and shallow lake ecosystems. The elimination of SAV can degrade habitat quality such that undesirable aquatic species such as cyanobacteria, common carp and fathead minnows dominate. As such, the suppression of SAV constitutes a violation of Iowa’s narrative water quality criteria protecting against undesirable or nuisance aquatic life.

Class HH - No Data

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

5/18/2016

Fixed Monitoring Start Date

9/11/2018

Fixed Monitoring End Date

Methods

220

Non-fixed station physical/chemical monitoring (conventional pollutant only)