Assessment Comments
Assessment is based on (1) surveys of Nebraska fisheries biologists, (2) consultation between Nebraska biologists and IDNR staff, (3) 2006 assessment information from Nebraska DEQ and (4) results of EPA/IDNR fish tissue (RAFT) monitoring 1999.
Basis for Assessment
SUMMARY: The Class A (primary contact recreation) uses are assessed (monitored) as “not supported” based on the impairment identified by the Nebraska DEQ due to high levels of indicator bacteria. The Class B(WW) aquatic life uses remain assessed (evaluated) as "partially supported" based on information from local fisheries biologists on impacts related to flow modification and habitat alterations in this segment of the Missouri River. The fish consumption uses are assessed (monitored) as "fully supported" based on results of fish contaminant monitoring in 1999. The sources of information for this assessment include (1) results of U.S. EPA/IDNR fish tissue (RAFT) monitoring near Council Bluffs in 1999, (2) information from Nebraska fisheries biologists, and (3) 2006 assessment information from Nebraska DEQ.
EXPLANATION: The Class A (primary contact recreation) uses are assessed (monitored) as “not supported” based on the impairment of primary contact recreation uses identified for this segment of the Missouri River by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality for the 2006 Section 303(d) listing cycle. The Nebraska DEQ identified an impairment of primary contact recreation uses in this river segment due to high levels of indicator bacteria (fecal coliforms).
The Class B(WW) uses remain assessed as "partially supported" based on the assessment developed for previous reporting cycles (i.e., habitat alterations and flow modifications that resulted from development of the river for navigation uses in the mid-Twentieth Century). This assessment was developed in consultation with the Missouri River fisheries biologist for the state of Nebraska.
Fish consumption uses were assessed (monitored) as “fully supported” based on results of U.S.EPA/IDNR fish contaminant (RAFT) monitoring south of Council Bluffs in 1999. The composite samples of fillets from common carp and flathead catfish had low levels of contaminants. The existence of, or potential for, a fish consumption advisory is the basis for Section 305(b) assessments of the degree to which Iowa’s lakes and rivers support their fish consumption uses. Prior to 2006, IDNR used action levels published by the U.S Food and Drug Administration to determine whether consumption advisories should be issued for fish caught as part of recreational fishing in Iowa. In an effort to make Iowa’s consumption more compatible with the various protocols used by adjacent states, the Iowa Department of Public Health, in cooperation with Iowa DNR, developed a risk-based advisory protocol. This protocol went into effect in January 2006 (see http://www.iowadnr.gov/fish/news/consump.html for more information on Iowa’s revised fish consumption advisory protocol). Because the revised (2006) protocol is more restrictive than the previous protocol based on FDA action levels; fish contaminant data that previously suggested “full support” may now suggest either a threat to, or impairment of, fish consumption uses. This scenario, however, does not apply to the fish contaminant data generated from the 1999 RAFT sampling conducted in this assessment segment: the levels of contaminants do not exceed any of the new (2006) advisory trigger levels, thus suggesting no justification for issuance of a consumption advisory for this waterbody.
