Bear Creek IA 02-CED-523

mouth (S21 T86N R10W Benton Co.) to confluence with unnamed tributary in SW 1/4 S34 T88N R9W Buchanan 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 2018 - 2020
Stream/River Water Quality Data	CY 2018 - 2020
Lake Water Quality Data	CY 2016 - 2020
Biological Sampling Data	CY 2016 - 2020*
Fish Kill Data	CY 2016 - 2020
Fish Tissue Sampling Data	CY 2016 - 2020
Continuous Dissolved Oxygen Sampling Data	CY 2016 - 2020
*Biological sites sampled in both 2015 and 2019 were also assessed.

Open Segment Map
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Cycle: 2022
Release Status: Final
Overall IR: 5 - Water is impaired or threatened and a TMDL is needed.
Trend: Unknown
Created: 12/20/2021 2:31:45 PM
Updated: 12/22/2021 10:45:01 AM

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

Fully Supported

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 "fully supported" based on biological sampling data and water quality monitoring data.

Assessment Explanation

Data Sources:

Data Source	Data Source ID	Data Type	Data Age	Site ID	Site Name	Site Description
CRWQ	23	WQ	CY 2018-2020	99990045	Bear Creek
Iowa DNR	6	BIO	See Below	56	Bear Creek	Buchanan Co Park - Brandon

Presumptive Class A1 - Indicator Bacteria:

Site ID

Data Source ID

# Samples per Year (2018/ 2019/2020)

2018 Geometric Mean

2019 Geometric Mean

2020 Geometric Mean

Violates Annual Geometric Mean?

# 2018 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

# 2019 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

# 2020 SSM violations / SSM Violations needed for impairment

Violates Annual SSM Significantly >10% Rule?

Assessment Type

Support Level

99990045

4/5/5

1631

629

601

YES

4 / NA

5 / NA

4 / NA

Evaluated

Not

Class A – 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
99990045	23	12 / 3	6.78	9.08	7.74	1	4	NO	Monitored	Full

Class BWW2 - Conventional 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
99990045	23	Chloride	14 / 3	11.5	24.4	17.5	NA	0 / 0	4	NO	Monitored	Full
99990045	23	Dissolved Oxygen	14 / 3	6.8	11.2	8.7	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Monitored	Full
99990045	23	pH	12 / 3	6.78	9.08	7.74	1	NA / NA	4	NO	Monitored	Full
99990045	23	Sulfate	14 / 3	10.4	23.4	17.7	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Monitored	Full
99990045	23	Temperature	14 / 3	9.8	21.8	17.3	0	NA / NA	4	NO	Monitored	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
56	8/7/17	44	47c	MS	Hess	82	Excellent	70	Pass

Fish:

BioNet Site ID	Date	Drainage Area (mi2)	Ecoregion	Major Drainage	Riffle Stream?	FIBI score	FIBI Class	47c FIBI BIT	FIBI Pass/ Fail
56	8/7/17	44	47c	MS	Yes	82	Excellent	65	Pass

Overall:

Community	Assessment Type	Assessment Result	Support Level	IR Category	Reason
Benthic Macroinvertebrates	Evaluated	Pass (1/1)	Full
Fish	Evaluated	Pass (1/1)	Full
Overall	Evaluated	Pass	Full	1	Assessment was evaluated because it was based on a single sample.

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

8/7/2017

Biological Monitoring

5/17/2018

Non-fixed Monitoring Start Date

9/29/2020

Non-fixed Monitoring End Date

Methods

220

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

315

Regional reference site approach

320

Benthic macroinvertebrate surveys

330

Fish surveys

420

Indicator bacteria monitoring