Elk River IA 01-MAQ-9

Assessment Comments

1991 stream use assessment in Jackson County.

Basis for Assessment

Continued to use assessment of aquatic life use support developed for the 1994 report (=FST).  No other information available.  A review of the field sheet from the September 1991 DNR stream use assessment shows (1) presence of less than a majority of the expected fish taxa (4 of 9) for streams in the Souther Iowa Rolling Loess Prairies subecoregion and (2) relatively poor fish community diversity (9 species, all cyprinids) for this subregion.  Habitat quality, however, is relatively good with no significant impacts to the physical characteristics of the stream.  The data upon which this assessment is based is more than 5 years old.  Additional monitoring is needed to update the assessment and to better determine the status of the aquatic communities of this stream.