Elm Lake IA 02-IOW-657
Wright County S21T92NR24W 1 mi. S of Cornelia.
- Assessment Cycle
- 2022
- Release Status
- Final
- Data Collection Period
- Overall IR Category
- 5 - Water is impaired or threatened and a TMDL is needed.
- Trend
- Stable
- Created
- 12/20/2021 2:57:09 PM
- Updated
- 2/2/2022 1:49:12 PM
The Class BLW use was assessed as "not supported" due to high levels of total suspended solids that lead to an impairment of the narrative criteria protecting against undesirable or nuisance aquatic life and due to violations of the Class BLW criterion for pH. High levels of algae at this wetland also suggested impairment due to aesthetically objectionable conditions. All other designated uses were “not assessed.”
Data Sources: Data Source Data Source ID Data Type Data Age Site ID Site
Name Site
Description Iowa DNR 6 WQ CY 2016-2020 22990006 Elm
Lake
Class BLW - TSI's: Site ID Data Source ID Parameter Name # Samples / # Years Minimum Value Maximum Value Median Value Median TSI Violation? Assessment Type Support Level 22990006 6 Chlorophyll a TSI 25 / 5 32 87 72 YES Monitored NOT 22990006 6 Fixed suspended solids 15 / 3 0.1 69.2 16 NA NA NA The TSI value for Secchi depth is not used to evaluate the
attainment of the aquatic life use in shallow lakes. Due to the depth of these
shallow lakes, TSI values for Secchi depth can be misleading. In some
instances, the Secchi disk remains visible at the bottom of the lake and the
depth of the lake is recorded as the Secchi depth. In these instances, water
clarity may be sufficient to support the Class BLW use, but the index value is
limited by the depth of the lake. Thus the combination of total suspended
solids and chlorophyll a will be used to determine whether or not the Class BLW
use is impaired in these shallow systems. Class BLW - 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 22990006 6 Ammonia 20 / 4 0.02 0.68 0.26 NA 0 / 1 5 NO Monitored FULL 22990006 6 Dissolved Oxygen 24 / 5 5.18 13.24 8.37 0 NA / NA 5 NO Monitored FULL 22990006 6 pH 25 / 5 7.6 11.8 8.6 4 NA / NA 5 NO Monitored FULL 22990006 6 Temperature 25 / 5 11.94 28.62 21.54 0 NA / NA 5 NO Monitored FULL Class BLW - Protection of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: Site ID Data Source ID Parameter Name # Samples / # Years Minimum Value Maximum Value Median Value Median Value = SAV Assessment Type Support Level 22990006 6 Total suspended solids 25 / 5 0.6 122.5 43 Yes Monitored NOT Guidelines for wetland assessment from the Upper Mississippi
River Conservation Committee’s Water Quality Technical Section (2003) state
that a median total suspended solids concentration during the growing season
of less than 30 mg/L is necessary to provide sufficient water clarity to
support the growth of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) in wetlands and shallow
lakes. High levels of total suspended solids impede the growth of SAV. SAV is critical to the
health of wetland and shallow lake ecosystems. The elimination of SAV can
degrade habitat quality such that undesirable aquatic species such as cyanobacteria,
common carp, and fathead minnows dominate. As such, the suppression of SAV
constitutes a violation of Iowa’s narrative water quality criteria protecting
against undesirable or nuisance aquatic life. Class HH: No Data
Note: Additional monitoring of fish and aquatic vegetation
populations at Elm Lake by DNR staff also suggested that the high levels of
total suspended solids and algae have adverse effects on fish populations and
limit the production of rooted aquatic vegetation in this wetland. These results
further indicated that the aquatic life use of this wetland should be assessed
as "not supported."