Assessment Comments
Assessment is based on: (1) the results of IDNR/UHL monthly ambient water quality monitoring conducted on Wolf Creek near LaPorte City (STORET station 10070002) during the 2004-2006 assessment period and (2) IDNR/UHL REMAP biological sampling conducted in 2004 near LaPorte City.
Basis for Assessment
[Note: Prior to the current (2008) Section 305(b) cycle, this river segment was designated only for Class B(WW) aquatic life uses, including fish consumption 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 also now presumptively designated for Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses. This segment remains designated for warmwater aquatic life use (now termed Class B(WW1) uses), and for fish consumption uses (now termed Class HH (human health/fish consumption uses).]
SUMMARY: The presumptive Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses are assessed (monitored) as "not supported" due to levels of indicator bacteria that violate state water quality criteria. The Class B(WW1) aquatic life uses are assessed (monitored) as "fully supported" based on results of ambient water quality monitoring conducted from 2004 through 2006 and based on results of biological sampling conducted in 2004. Fish consumption uses are considered “not assessed” due to the lack of recent fish contaminant monitoring in this assessment segment. The primary sources of data for this are (1) the results of IDNR/UHL monthly ambient water quality monitoring conducted on Wolf Creek near LaPorte City (STORET station 10070002) during the 2004-2006 assessment period and (2) IDNR/UHL REMAP biological sampling conducted in 2004 near LaPorte City.
EXPLANATION: The presumptive Class A1 uses are assessed as "not supported" based on results of ambient monitoring for indicator bacteria (E. coli). Due to recent changes in Iowa’s Water Quality Standards, Iowa’s assessment methodology for indicator bacteria has changed. Prior to 2003, the Iowa WQ Standards contained a high-flow exemption for the Class A criterion for indicator bacteria (fecal coliforms) designed to protect primary contact recreation uses: the water quality criterion for fecal coliform bacteria (200 orgs/100 ml) did not apply "when the waters [were] materially affected by surface runoff." Due to a change in the Standards in July 2003, E. coli is now the indicator bacterium, and the high flow exemption was eliminated and replaced with language stating that the Class A criteria for E. coli apply when Class A1, A2, or A3 uses “can reasonably be expected to occur.” Because the IDNR Technical Advisory Committee on WQ Standards could not agree on what flow conditions would define periods when uses would not be reasonably expected to occur, all monitoring data generated for E. coli during the assessment period, regardless of flow conditions during sample collection, will be considered for determining support of Class A1 uses for purposes of Section 305(b) assessments and Section 303(d) listings.
The geometric mean level of indicator bacteria (E. coli) in the 30 samples collected (567 orgs/100ml) far exceeds the Iowa Class A1 water quality criterion of 126 orgs/100ml. Twenty of the 30 samples (67%) exceed Iowa’s single-sample maximum criterion of 235 orgs/100 ml. According to U.S. EPA guidelines for Section 305(b) reporting and according to IDNR’s assessment/listing methodology, if the geometric mean level of E. coli is greater than the state criterion of 126 orgs/100 ml., the primary contact recreation uses should be assessed as "not supported" (see pgs 3-33 to 3-35of U.S. EPA 1997b).
The assessment of the Class B(WW1) aquatic life uses remains based on data collected in 2004 as part of the DNR/UHL stream REMAP project. A series of biological metrics which reflect stream water quality and habitat integrity were calculated from the biocriteria sampling data. The biological metrics are based on the numbers and types of benthic macroinvertebrate taxa and fish species collected in the stream sampling reach. The biological metrics were combined to make a fish community index of biotic integrity (FIBI) and a benthic macroinvertebrate index (BMIBI). The indexes rank the biological integrity of a stream sampling reach on a rising scale from 0 (minimum) to 100 (maximum). The 2004 FIBI score was 45 (fair) and the BMIBI score was 50 (fair). The aquatic life use support was assessed as fully supporting (=FS), based on a comparison of the FIBI and BMIBI scores with biological impairment criteria (BIC) established for previous Section 305(b) reports. The non-riffle site FIBI BIC for this ecoregion is 44 and the artificial substrate BMIBI BIC for this ecoregion is 52. This site met the BMIBI BIC with the aid of the BMIBI UAV of 8 points. The biological impairment criteria were determined from a statistical analysis of data collected at stream ecoregion reference sites from 1994-2004.
Additionally, results from DNR/UHL ambient monthly monitoring at the La Porte City station from 2004-2006 show no violations of Class B(WW1) water quality criteria in the 38 samples analyzed for conventional parameters (e.g., dissolved oxygen, pH, and ammonia-nitrogen), in the 10 samples analyzed for toxic metals, or in the seven samples analyzed for pesticides.
Fish consumption uses are not assessed due to the lack of recent fish contaminant monitoring in this river segment. Previous assessments were based on results of fish contaminant monitoring conducted by USGS in 1995 as part of the NAWQA project. These data are now considered too old (greater than 10 years) to accurately characterize current water quality conditions.
