MR WMA releases three years of water-monitoring results

     Members of the Maquoketa River Watershed Management Authority (MR WMA) provided an update to the public on Nov. 16 on their water-monitoring project, a program that’s been in the works for the last three years.

     The presentation was held via Zoom, with over 20 participants, including cities and counties who are members of the watershed, such as Monticello and Jones County.

     “It’s hard to believe it’s been three years,” marveled Dave Mack, chair of the WMA water-monitoring committee and members of the Delaware County Soil & Water Conservation District. “I’ve really enjoyed working on this project, especially thanks in part to all of our volunteers going out to collect data, and all of our partners. It’s a pretty special partnership we have going on with this project that made it all happen.”

     Lynette Seigley, MR WMA lead volunteer, led the presentation.

     “The whole purpose of the monitoring was to collect baseline data throughout the watershed to get an idea of how water quality varied from one part of the watershed to another,” she explained. “What we’re going to present tonight are the three years of the monitoring data that’s been collected so far.”

     The water-monitoring team/subcommittee focuses its efforts on sub-watersheds above and below the Maquoketa River.

     In 2019, they started with 34 sites. In 2020, they added two additional sites for monitoring. Now in 2021, nine other sites have been added.

     “There was interest in looking at what was leaving the Maquoketa watershed,” said Seigley. “There was also interest from the Lake Delhi association as to what was the water quality in the lake, as well as tributaries leading into the lake.”

     Each site is monitored three times a year in May, June, and August. In 2020, due to the Aug. 10 derecho, sites were monitored in September.

     “The derecho occurred the day before we were to sample. Our lab that we send samples to is at Coe College in Cedar Rapids was without power,” said Seigley.

     Taking samples at the same time each year, explained Seigley, allows them to “hold climate conditions the same.”

     “But we really can’t evaluate any trends through time in terms of are sites showing improvements in water quality or not,” she continued. “With just three samples a year, it’s really not frequent enough monitoring to be able to make that assessment.”

     Throughout the past three years, the parameters in terms of what is studied in the river have remained unchanged: turbidity, chloride, sulfate, phosphorus, nitrates, and E. coli bacteria.

     Turbidity is the measure of water clarity. Clear water has a low turbidity; cloudy water has a higher number. The statewide average for turbidity in Iowa streams is 16 NTUs (nephelometric turbidity units).

     “High turbidity can be caused by sediment, algae or organic matter in the water, and can have negative impacts on fish and aquatic life,” said Seigley. “Rainfall conditions and water flow can definitely affect turbidity levels.”

     The results showed higher levels of turbidity associated with sub-watersheds in the North Fork of the Maquoketa River.

     Chloride is a component of salt, typically caused by road salt runoff in the winter. Other sources of chloride include: human and animal waste, and inputs from fertilizers. The statewide average is 21 mg/L (milligrams per liter).

     Seigley said that while some higher levels of chloride were found in the North Fork, “overall, these numbers really aren’t very high for chloride. Chloride and sulfate tend to be at pretty low concentrations compared to other sites in Iowa.” She added that the chloride levels are nothing of great concern for the WMA.

     Sulfate is naturally occurring, and found in minerals, soils, and rocks. The average is 34 mg/L.

     “If we look statewide sulfate numbers, we tend to see higher sulfate extremes in northwest Iowa. That has to do with the types of soils that occur in the northwest part,” shared Seigley.

     The highest levels along the Maquoketa River Watershed were 29.4 mg/L.

     “Chloride and sulfate tend to be a little boring. Boring data is good. It tells you not much is happening there.”

     Phosphorus is essential for plants and animals.

     “Levels tend to be somewhat low, generally low in Iowa streams. Through we do see some elevated phosphorus in some areas in Iowa,” shared Seigley.

     The state average is less than 0.1 mg/L.

     “A lot of the sites that are monitored as part of the MR WMA are higher than that,” reported Seigley. “For phosphorus, there tended to be higher values associated with a number of the sub-watersheds in the North Fork. We only had two sites that fell below that statewide average.”

     Nitrate is water soluble. The standard is 5.5 to 10 mg/L, depending on whether it’s drinking water or stream water.

     Throughout the watershed, higher levels of nitrate were found in the upper portion of both the south branch and main stream of the river, as well as the North Fork.

     “The lower ends of both watersheds tended to see lower concentrations of nitrate,” said Seigley.

     The presence of E. coli “suggests that other, more harmful organisms may be present” in the water.

     “It indicates that you have a relatively fresh source of human or animal waste in the water,” noted Seigley, though it does not distinguish between human and animal waste.

     State standard is 235 CFUs/100 ml (colony forming units) for primary contact (swimming), or 2,880 CFUs/100 ml for secondary contact (kayaking). Over the last 20 years of data collected, the state average is 120 CFUs.

     “If we look at the results, we’re quite a bit above that number pretty much throughout the watershed,” said Seigley. “It didn’t really show a pattern of certain areas having bacteria.”

     The results of the water-monitoring project will be analyzed by the MR WMA subcommittee and a recommendation for next steps will be made to the overall committee at a later date/

     “Do they want to change or add any other sites?” proposed Seigley. “It would be the executive committee making the decision as to how we proceed from there.”

     The public is also invited to a presentation at the Durgin Pavilion at Camp Courageous on Wednesday, Dec. 8, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Four University of Iowa civil and environmental engineering teams partnered with the MR WMA and other agencies to tackle water and nature quality. Their results will be shared during the event.