Bear Creek IA 02-CED-517

mouth to Wildcat Cr. Benton Co.

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 2020 - 2022
Stream/River Water Quality Data	CY 2020 - 2022
Lake Water Quality Data	CY 2018 - 2022
Biological Sampling Data	CY 2018 - 2022*
Fish Kill Data	CY 2018 - 2022
Fish Tissue Sampling Data	CY 2018 - 2022
Continuous Dissolved Oxygen Sampling Data	CY 2018 - 2022
*Biological sites sampled in both 2017 and 2021 were also assessed.

Open Segment Map
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Cycle: 2024
Release Status: Final
Overall IR: 5 - Water is impaired or threatened and a TMDL is needed.
Trend: Unknown
Created: 11/1/2023 8:12:25 AM
Updated: 1/30/2024 3:48:01 PM

Use Support

Class A1

Presumptive Use

Recreation - Primary contact

Not Supported

Bacteria: Indicator Bacteria- E. coli

Support Level

Not Supported

Impairment Code

5p - Impairment occurs on a waterbody with a presumptive A1 or B(WW1) use.

Cause Magnitude

High

Status

Continuing

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

N/A

Cycle Added

2014

Impairment Rationale

Geometric mean criterion exceeded

Data Source

Special project/study

TMDL Priority

Tier III

Class BWW2

Aquatic Life - Warm Water Type 2

Not Supported

Biological: low aquatic macroinvertebrate IBI

Support Level

Not Supported

Impairment Code

5b-v - Biological - verified

Cause Magnitude

Slight

Status

New

Source

Unknown: Source Unknown

Source Confidence

Low

Cycle Added

2024

Impairment Rationale

Low Biotic Index

Data Source

Biological monitoring: Iowa DNR WQMA

TMDL Priority

Tier IV

Impairment Delistings

No delistings for this assessment cycle.

Documentation

Assessment Summary

The presumptive Class A1 use was assessed as “not supported” due to violations of Iowa water quality criteria for indicator bacteria (E. coli). The Class BWW2 use was assessed as "not supported" based on biological sampling data.

Assessment Explanation

Data Sources:

Data Source	Data Source ID	Data Type	Data Age	Site ID	Site Name	Site Description
CRWQ	23	WQ	CY 2020-2022	99990033	Bear Creek
Iowa DNR	6	BIO	See Below	26	Bear Creek	Shellsburg

Presumptive Class A1 - Indicator Bacteria:

Site ID

Data Source ID

# Samples per Year (2020/ 2021/2022)

2020 Geometric Mean

2021 Geometric Mean

2022 Geometric Mean

Violates Annual Geometric Mean?

# 2020 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

# 2021 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

# 2022 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

Violates Annual SSM Significantly >10% Rule?

Assessment Type

Support Level

99990033

5/5/3

250

333

180

YES

2 / NA

4 / NA

1 / NA

YES

Eval

Not

Presumptive Class A1 – pH:

Site ID	Data Source ID	# Samples / # Years	Minimum Value	Maximum Value	Mean Value	# Violations	Violations needed for impairment	Violates Significantly >10% Rule?	Assessment Type	Support Level
99990033	23	13 / 3	7.54	8.44	8.11	0	4	NO	Mon	Full

Class BWW2 - Binomial Parameters:

Site ID	Data Source ID	Parameter Name	# Samples / # Years	Minimum Value	Maximum Value	Mean Value	# Violations	# Acute / Chronic Violations	Violations needed for impairment	Violates Significantly >10% Rule?	Assessment Type	Support Level
99990033	23	Chloride	13 / 3	13.1	20	16.4	NA	0 / 0	4	NO	Mon	Full
99990033	23	Dissolved Oxygen	12 / 3	7.1	13	9.8	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Mon	Full
99990033	23	pH	13 / 3	7.54	8.44	8.11	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Mon	Full
99990033	23	Sulfate	13 / 3	15.2	25	19.6	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Mon	Full
99990033	23	Temperature	13 / 3	6.8	24.3	17.4	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Mon	Full

Class BWW2 - Biological Sampling:

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:

BioNet Site ID	Date	Drainage Area (mi2)	Ecoregion	Major Drainage	BM Sample Gear	BMIBI score	BMIBI Class	47c BMIBI BIT	BMIBI Pass/Fail
26	8/30/21	51.8	47c	MS	Hess	64	Good	70	Fail
26	8/14/17	51.8	47c	MS	Hess	69	Good	70	Fail

Fish:

BioNet Site ID	Date	Drainage Area (mi2)	Ecoregion	Major Drainage	Riffle Stream?	FIBI score	FIBI Class	47c FIBI BIT	FIBI Pass/Fail
26	8/30/21	51.8	47c	MS	No	81	Excellent	44	Pass
26	8/14/17	51.8	47c	MS	No	84	Excellent	44	Pass

Overall:

Community	Assessment Type	Assessment Result	Support Level	IR Category	Reason
Benthic Macroinvertebrates	Monitored	Pass (1/1)	Full
Fish	Monitored	Fail (0/2)	Not		Assessment was monitored because the samples used for
Overall	Monitored	Fail	Not	5bv	the assessment were collected in a recent five-year period.

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

6/3/2020

Monitoring Start

8/22/2022

Monitoring End

8/14/2017

Biological Monitoring

8/30/2021

Biological Monitoring

Methods

150

Monitoring data more than 5 years old

200

Physical/Chemical Monitoring

315

Regional reference site approach

320

Benthic macroinvertebrate surveys

330

Fish surveys

420

Indicator bacteria monitoring