Little Wall Lake IA 03-SSK-941

Assessment Comments

Basis for Assessment

Used assessments of support of the Class A (primary contact) uses (=PS), the Class B(LW) aquatic life uses (=PS), and the fish consumption uses (=FS) developed for the 1994 report.  

For the 1998 report, the assessment developed for the 1996 report was reviewed and approved by the DNR Fisheries Bureau.  Thus, both the Class A (primary contact recreation) uses and the Class B(LW) aquatic life uses were assessed as PS due to excessive growth of aquatic vegetation in this naturally shallow lake.  

For the 2000 report:  SUMMARY:  The Class A (primary contact recreation) uses and the Class B(LW) aquatic life uses remained assessed as "partially supported."  Fish consumption uses were asessed as "fully supported."  EXPLANATION:  The Class A uses remained assessed as "partially supported" based on information from the DNR Fisheries Bureau that heavy blooms of bluegreen algae have occurred in recent years at this lake.   The Class B(LW) aquatic life uses remain assessed as "partially supported" based on review and approval of the previous (1998) assessment by the DNR Fisheries Bureau in 2000.   The water quality trend for this lake remains "stable."  Fish consumption uses were assessed as "fully supported."  EPA/DNR fish tissue (RAFT) monitoring conducted in 1998 showed that levels of contaminants in the composite sample of fillets from channel catfish and largemouth bass were less than ½ of the respective FDA action levels and DNR levels of concern for organochlorine contaminants and mercury.   Thus, fish consumption uses were assessed as "fully supported."    

For the 2002 report:  SUMMARY:  The Class A (primary contact recreation) uses remain assessed (monitored) as "partially supported."  The Class B(LW) aquatic life uses remain assessed (evaluated) as "partially supported."  Fish consumption remain "fully supported."  Sources of data for this assessment include (1) results of the statewide survey of Iowa lakes conducted in 2000 and 2001 by Iowa State University (ISU), (2) information from the IDNR Fisheries Bureau, and (3) information on phytoplankton communities at Iowa lakes in 2000 from Downing et al.  (2002) and (4) results of U.S.  EPA/IDNR fish tissue monitoring in 1998.   EXPLANATION:  Results of monitoring conducted by ISU in 2000 and 2001 as part of the statewide survey of Iowa lakes suggest that the Class A (primary contact) uses are only "partially supported."  Using the median values from this survey in 2000 and 2001 (approximately six samples), Carlsons's (1977) trophic state indices for total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and secchi depth are 84, 72, and 79, respectively, for Little Wall Lake.   According to Carlson (1977), these index values place this lake in the range of hyper-eutrophic lakes and suggest (1) excessive phosphorus loading to the water column, (2) excessive, although somewhat less than expected, production of suspended algae, and (3) poor water transparency.   These conditions indicate impairments to the Class A (primary contact) uses through presence of aesthetically objectionable blooms of algae and presence of nuisance algal species (i.e., bluegreen algae).   Data from Downing et al.  (2002) suggest that bluegreen algae (Cyanophyta), tend to dominate the summertime phytoplankton community of Little Wall Lake.   Sampling in summer 2000 showed that from between 70 and 80% of the wet mass of the phytoplankton in the three summer samples from this lake was in bluegreen algae.    Based on median values from ISU sampling in 2000 and 2001, the ratio of total nitrogen to total phosphorus for this lake is 7.   Data on inorganic suspended solids from the ISU survey suggest that this lake is also subject to occasional episodes of high levels of non-algal turbidity.   The median level of inorganic suspended solids in the 130 lakes sampled for the ISU lake survey in 2000 and 2001 was 5.27 mg/l.   The median level of inorganic suspended solids at Little Wall Lake (21.0 mg/l) was the ninth highest of the 130 lakes, thus suggesting that non-algal turbidity may limit the production of algae as well as impair beneficial uses.   Based on this information, turbidity-related impacts to the primary contact and aquatic life uses at this lake will be attributed to both suspended algae and re-suspended inorganic material.   The hyper-eutrophic conditions at this lake, along with information from the IDNR Fisheries Bureau, suggest that the Class B(LW) aquatic life uses are "partially supported" due to excessive nutrient loading to the water column, nuisance blooms of algae, and re-suspension of sediment.   Fish consumption remain "fully supported" based on results of U.S.  EPA/IDNR fish tissue monitoring in 1998 (see assessment for the 2000 report above).