Honey Creek IA 01-MAQ-53

mouth (S19 T89N R5W Delaware Co.) to Rutherford Branch in S26 T90N R5W Delaware 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 2014 - 2016
Stream/River Water Quality Data	CY 2014 - 2016
Lake Water Quality Data	CY 2012 - 2016
Biological Sampling Data	CY 2012 - 2016*
Fish Kill Data	CY 2012 - 2016
Fish Tissue Sampling Data	CY 2012 - 2016
Continuous Dissolved Oxygen Sampling Data	CY 2012 - 2016
*Biological sites sampled in both 2011 and 2015 were also assessed.

Open Segment Map
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Cycle: 2018
Release Status: Final
Overall IR: 5 - Water is impaired or threatened and a TMDL is needed.
Trend: Stable
Created: 7/18/2019 8:45:48 AM
Updated: 7/18/2019 8:47:48 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

Low

Cycle Added

2010

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

General Use

General Use water -

Fully Supported

Impairment Delistings

No delistings for this assessment cycle.

Documentation

Assessment Summary

The Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses remain assessed (monitored) as “not supported” due to levels of indicator bacteria during the 2012, 2013 and 2014 recreation seasons that exceeded state water quality criteria. The Class B(WW2) aquatic life uses are assessed as “fully supported based on results of chemical/physical monitoring in 2013. The source of data used for this assessment is monitoring conducted on Honey Creek at three stations during the 2012-2014 assessment period: (1) just upstream from Mead Cemetery (aka, Honey Creek Outlet) (STORET station 15280003), (2) at Highway 13 (STORET station 15280015) and (3) at 165th Street (STORET station 15280017).

Assessment Explanation

The Class A1 (primary contact recreation) are assessed (monitored) as "not supported" based on levels of indicator bacteria that exceeded state water quality criteria. Results of bacterial monitoring during the recreation season of 2012 show the following: The recreation season geometric means of indicator bacteria (E. coli) in the eight samples collected at station 15280015 was 597 orgs/100 ml. During the recreation season of 2013, the geometric mean of indicator bacteria (E. coli) in the eight samples collected at station 15280015 was 525 orgs/100 ml. During the recreation season of 2014, the geometric means of the eight samples collected at all three monitoring sites were as follow: station 152280003: 1,504 orgs/100 ml; station 15280015: 1,494 orgs/100 ml, and station 15280017: 2,553 orgs/100 ml. Based on all the bacterial samples analyzed during the 2012-2014 period, the percentages of samples that exceeded the Class A1 single sample maximum criterion of 235 orgs/100 ml were very high, ranging from 80 to 100%. According to U.S. EPA guidelines for Section 305(b) reporting and DNR’s assessment/listing methodology, if a recreation season geometric mean exceeds the respective water quality criterion, the contact recreation uses are "not supported" (see pgs 3-33 to 3-35 of U.S. EPA 1997b). Thus, because at least one recreation season geometric mean in this assessment segment exceeded criteria for Class A1 uses, these uses are assessed as “impaired.” The geometric mean levels of E. coli in this assessment segment suggest a moderate to severe bacterial impairment.

The Class B(WW1) aquatic life uses are assessed (evaluated) as “fully supporting” based on results of limited chemical/physical water quality monitoring in 2013 (note: too few samples were collected over the 2012-2014 assessment period to qualify as a higher-confidence (“monitored”) assessment). Water quality monitoring conducted from August to November 2013 at stations 15280003, 15280015, and 15280017 showed no violations of Class B(WW1) criteria for dissolved oxygen, pH, or temperature in the seven samples collected or for ammonia in the four samples collected. These results suggest “full support” of aquatic life uses.

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

5/14/2012

Fixed Monitoring Start Date

7/15/2014

Fixed Monitoring End Date

Methods

222

Non-fixed-station monitoring (conventional during key seasons and flows)

420

Indicator bacteria monitoring