Wapsipinicon River IA 01-WPS-340

Assessment Comments

Assessment remains based on results of EPA/IDNR fish contaminant monitoring in 1998.

Basis for Assessment

SUMMARY:  The Class A (primary contact recreation) uses and the Class B(WW) aquatic life uses remain "not assessed" due to the lack of water quality information upon which to base an assessment.   Fish consumption remain assessed (evaluated) as "fully supported" based on results of U.S.  EPA/IDNR fish contaminant monitoring in 1998.  

EXPLANATION:  The Class A and Class B(WW) uses are "not assessed" due to the lack of water quality information for this segment upon which to base an assessment.  

Fish consumption uses remain assessed (evaluated) as “fully supported” based on results of U.S.EPA/IDNR fish contaminant (RAFT) monitoring near Viola in 1998.   Because these data are now considered too old (greater than five years) to accurately characterize current water quality conditions, the assessment category is considered “evaluated” (indicating an assessment with relatively lower confidence) as opposed to "monitored" (indicating an assessment with relatively higher confidence).   The existence of, or potential for, a fish consumption advisory is the basis for Section 305(b) assessments of support of fish consumption uses in Iowa’s rivers and lakes.   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 1998 RAFT sampling conducted in this assessment segment:  levels of all contaminants from this monitoring were below advisory trigger levels, thus suggesting the continued “full support” of fish consumption uses.