McLoud Run IA 02-CED-508

Assessment Comments

Assessment remains based on (1) results of investigation of a fish kills in 1997, 2001, 2004, and 2005, (2) data from the Cedar Rapids intensive urban monitoring project in summer 2002, and (3) EPA/IDNR fish contaminant monitoring in 2004.

Basis for Assessment

[Note:  Prior to the current (2008) Section 305(b) cycle, this stream segment was classified only for general uses.   Due to changes in Iowa’s surface water classification that were approved by U.S.  EPA in February 2008 (see http://www.iowadnr.com/water/standards/files/06mar_swc.pdf), this segment is now presumptively designated for Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses and for Class B(WW1) aquatic life uses.   According to the Iowa Water Quality Standards, all perennial rivers and streams and all intermittent streams with perennial pools that are not specifically listed in the Iowa surface water classification are designated as Class A1 and Class B(WW1) waters.   Thus, for the current (2008) assessment, perennial flow is presumed, and 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 "not assessed" due to the lack of information upon which to base an assessment.   The aquatic life uses of this stream remain assessed (monitored) as "partially supported" due to (1) the continued occurrence of fish kills during the 2002-2005 period and (2) the potential for additional kills to occur in the future.   Results of ambient water quality monitoring conducted in summer 2002 for the Cedar Rapids intensive urban monitoring project indicate generally good chemical water quality in this stream.   Results of EPA/IDNR fish contaminant (RAFT) monitoring in 2004 suggest that levels of contaminants are below trigger levels of Iowa’s revised (2006) fish consumption advisory protocol, thus suggesting “full support” of fish consumption uses.

Note:  The previous impairment of this stream was due to fish kills related to high-temeprature stormwater from summer precipitation events in the primarily urban watershed of McLoud Run.   A TMDL for these thermal impacts was prepared by IDNR and approved by U.S.  EPA in 2007.   Because, however, this TMDL does not address the potential causes of more recent fish kills (e.g, discharge of chlorinated water to the stream), this stream remains in Category 5a of Iowa's Integrated Report.

EXPLANATION:  Previous assessments of support for the general beneficial uses of this stream ("partially supporting") have been based on the occurrence of fish kills.   For the 1998 and 2000 reporting cycle, the assessment was based on the occurrence of two spill-related fish kills during the 1996-1997 biennial assessment period,  An additional kill occurred on August 2, 2001 and was due to storm water runoff from urban watershed of this stream.   The rainfall event occurred during very warm summer weather, and the relatively warm runoff water raised the temperature of McLoud Run by 19 degrees F in an hour.   Temperature-sensitive species such as the (stocked) rainbow, brown, and brook trout were killed.   According to DNR's assessment methodology for Section 305(b) reporting, occurrence of a single pollution-caused fish kill within the most recent three-year period (1997-1999) indicates that the aquatic life uses of a waterbody are only "partially supported."  Thus, for the 2002 abd 2004 assessment/listing cycles, the general uses of this stream were assessed as "partially supported" due thermal impacts from urban runoff.  

Fish kills have continued to occur in this stream, with two new kills occurring during the 2002-2005 period.   The first of these two kills occurred on or before November 16, 2004.   The kill was attributed to unknown/natural causes.   IDNR received a report of discolored water on the evening of November 16th; IDNR field staff observed four dead fish on the morning of the 17th.   The discolored water appeared to originate from one of the large storm water culverts that enter the stream.   The discoloration of the water was believed due to the decomposition of accumulated leaf litter in the storm water collection system.   An estimated 20 fish were killed including brown trout (15) and rainbow trout (3) that were stocked into the stream by the IDNR Fisheries Bureau as part of the urban trout fishery program on McLoud Run.   The value of the fish killed was $270.   Many live fish were observed in the stream during the investigation of the kill.   The IDNR investigation showed that the kill started at the culvert located across from the railroad bridge between 42nd Street and McLoud Place Road in Cedar Rapids and extended down to 29th Street.   This culvert drains a large residential area and golf course west of I-380.   Although a definitive cause of the kill was not identified, IDNR staff suggest that decaying leaves may have led to a build-up of ammonia build up in storm sewers.   A light train event prior to the kill may have flushed the high-ammonia material from the storm sewers into McLoud Run, thus causing the kill.  

The second of the two new kills occurred on or before May 16, 2005 and was also attributed to “unknown” causes.   On May 16th, IDNR field staff responded to a report from an angler that trout were dying in McLoud Run.   An investigation of the stream showed that approximately 380 fish were killed over a 2.25 mile reach of this stream.   Species killed included brown trout (75), rainbow trout (30), brook trout (27), one green sunfish, and one minnow.   The value of the fish killed was estimated at $1,845.   Although definitive causes and sources of the kill were not identified, IDNR staff offered the following potential causes/sources of this kill:  (1) a railroad crew had recently sprayed herbicides on the track along side of McLoud Run; (2) a local business is known to occasionally back-flush its pools and spas into storm sewers that drain to McLoud Run (the owner of this business stated chlorine level of back-flushed water is very low); (3) a local car dealer is reported to have a leaky hydraulic lift.

According to IDNR’s assessment/listing methodology, the occurrence of a single pollutant-caused fish kill, or a fish kill of unknown origin, on a waterbody or waterbody reach during the most recent assessment period (2004-2007) indicates a severe stress to the aquatic community and suggests that the aquatic life uses should be assessed as “impaired”.   If a cause of the kill is identified, and the cause is either known, or suspected, to be a “pollutant”, the assessment type is considered “monitored” and the affected waterbody is a candidate for Section 303(d) listing.   Fish kills attributed to a pollutant, but where a source of the pollutant was not identified and/or where enforcement actions were not taken against the responsible party, will be placed into Integrated Report subcategory 5b.   The intent of placing these waterbodies into Category 5 is not to necessarily require a TMDL but to keep the impairment highlighted due to the potential for similar future kills from the unaddressed causes and/or sources.   Both the November 2004 and the May 2005 kills on McLoud Run were pollutant-related and thus justify addition to Category 5 of Iowa’s Integrated Report (=Section 303(d) listing).

Results of ambient water quality monitoring conducted in summer 2002 for the Cedar Rapids intensive urban monitoring project indicate good chemical water quality in this stream.   The purpose of this project is to measure the daily variability of water quality through time in two urban streams in the Cedar Rapids area - McLoud Run and Indian Creek.  Both streams are monitored by the City of Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control as part of their storm water monitoring program.   The daily monitoring is designed to supplement the storm water monitoring being conducted on these two streams by the City of Cedar Rapids.   In 2002, sampling was conducted daily on McLoud Run from about mid-May to mid August.   Parameters monitored include pesticides, toxic organics, conventional parameters (including nutrients), and bacterial indicators (e.g., fecal coliforms and E.  coli).   In general, results of this monitoring show good water quality.   Although classified only for general uses, Iowa water quality criteria for either Class B(WW1) or Class B(CW1) aquatic life uses were compared to results of monitoring as an indicator of the status of water quality in this stream.   This comparison showed no violations of criteria for pH or ammonia in the 70+ samples collected during summer 2002.   One of 83 samples contained a level of dissolved oxygen below the 7.0 mg/l water quality criterion for Class B(CW1) coldwater streams:  the sample collected on June 10, 2002 contained 6.4 mg/l of dissolved oxygen.   Levels of metals, pesticides, and other toxic organic compounds did not exceed chronic aquatic life criteria .   The only such parameter to approach a state criterion was pentachlorophenol (PCP).   Fifteen of the 79 samples analyzed contained detectable levels of PCP; five of these samples were within 1 ug/l of the respective pH-dependent Class B(WW1) criterion.   None of the 81 sample analyzed contained detectable levels of either chlordane (detection level = 0 05 ug/l) or any of the seven PCB Aroclors analyzed (including Aroclors 1248, 1254, and 1260) (detection level = 0.5 ug/l).   Both chlordane and PCBs have been found at elevated levels in fish from either McLoud Run or the adjacent Cedar Lake.  

Fish contaminant monitoring conducted in 2004 suggests a lowering of contaminant levels in fish from McLoud Run.   Fish tissue monitoring conducted in June 2001 following a mid-May fish kill showed that fillet samples of stocked rainbow trout (ages 1 and 2) contained levels of chlordane above the 0.300 ppm U.S.  FDA action level.   A second fish tissue sampling in July 2001 showed that levels were just below the FDA action level.   In response, the IDNR Fisheries Bureau issued a no-kill restriction on trout taken from McLoud Run.   Additional fish tissue monitoring was conducted as part of the U.S.  EPA/IDNR RAFT program in 2004, and results of this monitoring suggest much lower contaminant levels than in samples from 2001.   The levels of the primary contaminants in the composite samples of fillets white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were as follows:  white sucker:  mercury: 0.085 ppm; total PCBs: 0.091 ppm; and technical chlordane: 0.032 ppm; rainbow trout:  mercury: < 0.018 ppm; total PCBs: 0.09 ppm; and technical chlordane: < 0.03 ppm.  

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 2004 RAFT sampling conducted in McLoud Run:  levels of all contaminants from this monitoring were below advisory trigger levels, thus suggesting the “full support” of fish consumption uses.   Despite the very low levels of contaminants in the McLoud Run fish tissue samples, the IDNR’s “no-kill restriction” on trout taken from McLoud Run remains in effect.