Fin And Feather Lake IA 02-WIN-840

Cerro Gordo County S27T96NR20W SW edge of Mason City.

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: 3 - Insufficient data exist to determine whether any designated uses are met.
Trophic: Unknown
Trend: Unknown
Created: 5/17/2019 1:50:20 PM
Updated: 5/17/2019 3:13:19 PM

Use Support

Class BLW

Aquatic Life - Lakes and wetlands

WINOFI

Fish Kill: Due To Natural Causes

Support Level

Further Investigation Needed

Impairment Code

3b - Use potentially impaired based on an evaluated assessment.

Cause Magnitude

Slight

Status

New

Source

Natural

Source Confidence

Low

Cycle Added

2018

Impairment Rationale

Potential Impairment

Data Source

Fish kill investigation: Iowa DNR

Class HH

Human Health -

Not Assessed

General Use

General Use water -

Not Assessed

Impairment Delistings

No delistings for this assessment cycle.

Documentation

Assessment Summary

The Class B(LW) (aquatic life) uses are assessed (evaluated) as “partially supported” based on results of a fish kill investigation in March 2012. Fish consumption uses remain "not assessed" (IR 3a) due to the lack of fish contaminant monitoring in this assessment segment. Sources of data for this assessment include (1) information from the IDNR Fisheries Bureau.

Assessment Explanation

The Class B(LW) (aquatic life) uses for Fin And Feather Lake are assessed (evaluated) as “partially supported” due to a fish kill in 2012. A fish kill occurred atFin And Feather Lakeon or before March 21, 2012. The cause of the kill was identified as “natural/unknown.” An estimated 75 fish were killed. According to the DNR investigation, 75 dead fish were found and attributed to a winterkill.According to DNR’s assessment/listing methodology, the occurrence of a single pollutant-caused fish kill, or a fish kill of unknown origin, on a waterbody or waterbody reach during the most recent assessment period (2012-2016) indicates a severe stress to the aquatic community and suggests that the aquatic life uses should be assessed as “impaired.” If a cause of the kill was not identified during the DNR investigation, or if the kill was attributed to non-pollutant causes (e.g., winterkill), the assessment type will be considered “evaluated.” Such assessments, although suitable for Section 305(b) reporting, lack the degree of confidence to support addition to the state Section 303(d) list of impaired waters (IR Category 5). Waterbodies affected by such fish kills will be placed in IR subcategories 3b and will be added to the state list of waters in need of further investigation. Thus, this assessment segment will be placed in Category 3b of Iowa’s 2018 Integrated Report.

Fish consumption uses remain "not assessed" (IR 3a) due to the lack of fish contaminant monitoring in this assessment segment.

Monitoring and Methods

Assessment Key Dates

3/21/2012

Fixed Monitoring Start Date

Methods

140

Incidence of spills and/or fish kills