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Assessment Comments

Stream use assesssment in Mahaska County.

Basis for Assessment

Used a review of the field sheet from the July 1991 DNR stream use assessment in Mahaska County to upgrade the assessment of support of the Class B(LR) aquatic life uses from PS to FST due to presence of a majority of the expected fish taxa (6 of 8) for streams in the Mississippi River portion of the Southern Iowa Rolling Loess Prairies subecoregion.   The diversity of the fish community was relatively low for this subregion (8 species from 2 families) but sampling very near the upstream boundary of the Class B(LR) segment, and notes on the field sheet indicating difficulty seining among "snags and rocks," suggests that more thorough sampling at other sites downstream would produce additional taxa.   The data upon which this assessment is based are more than 5 years old.   Additional monitoring is needed to update the assessment and to determine the status of the aquatic communities and habitats.   Sampling at locations other than the Class B(LR)/general boundary would be useful.