Buckley Creek IA 03-SSK-938

Assessment Comments

Stream use assesssment.

Basis for Assessment

Used a review of the field sheet from the 1991 DNR stream use assessment in Mahaska County to continue to assess support of the Class B(LR) aquatic life uses as PS due to (1) relatively poor fish community diversity (6 species from 2 families) for streams in the Mississippi River portion of the Southern Iowa Rolling Loess Prairies subecoregion, (2) presence of less than a majority of the expected fish taxa (4 of 8) for streams in this subregion, and (3) indications on the field sheet of frequent channel alterations and frequent streambank erosion, with little diversity of substrates.  The data upon which this assessment is based are more than 5 years old.   Follow-up monitoring is needed to update the assessment and to determine the status of the aquatic communities and habitats.