Water quality results for 2023 in Story County

by Dan Haug | Apr 15, 2024

Our 2023 Annual Report is now available with results of both volunteer and lab testing of water quality in lakes and streams in Story County. The 56-page report can be navigating by clicking on headings in the table of contents or by using the “Bookmarks” feature in your PDF reader. Below are some of the key findings.

Amelia Whitener leads a water monitoring demonstration at a trash cleanup event.

The volunteer program continues to grow and improve in consistency.

49 volunteers entered 969 data sheets into the Clean Water Hub this season.
Many volunteers are monitoring their assigned site biweekly, with 20 sites sampled at least 20 times.

Mayfly larvae (nymph) under magnifying glass

This was a challenging year for fish and aquatic insects.

In addition to many creeks drying up, volunteers observed dissolved oxygen drop to low levels at 53% of stream sites.
Biological surveys showed mixed results, with some streams scoring poorly but sensitive insects like mayflies present in others.

Cows with access to creeks are one possible source of E. coli bacteria

E. coli bacteria levels in streams remained high.

All thirteen streams with enough data to evaluate this season exceeded the primary contact recreation standard. Three streams exceeded the secondary contact recreation standard: (West Indian Creek, College Creek, and Ballard Creek.
However, over the last four years, most sites on the South Skunk River meet the standard when there is enough water to float a canoe.

UV disinfection system at Ames Water Pollution Control Facility

Wastewater treatment plants are not yet capable of removing some of the pollutants we monitor, and can have a large influence during drought when effluent is less diluted.

Effluent from the old sewage treatment plant in Nevada was found to be a major source of E. coli bacteria. The new plant, currently under construction, includes a disinfection system that should address the problem.
Stream sites downstream of sewage treatment plants tend to have elevated chloride and phosphate.

The encouraging trends we noted in the 2022 report held up with another year of data. Water quality trends are often driven by weather, but we pulled out subsets based on streamflow to remove some of this influence.

E. coli in the South Skunk River below the Ames Water Pollution Control Facility has improved relative to the pre-2014 baseline period, especially during dry conditions when wastewater has the greatest influence.
Nitrate in the South Skunk River below the confluence with Ioway Creek improved relative to the pre-2014 baseline period, even after excluding dry periods. This pattern is consistent with improvement from conservation practices.

Metrics from the 2023 monitoring season

by Dan Haug | Feb 8, 2024

Monitoring a stream once or twice a month is a big commitment, but our locally-led water monitoring program (which started in Story County but has expanded to Hamilton County) has no shortage of committed volunteers! The following metrics show the continued growth of the program in size and consistency.

Also, let’s give a shoutout to the people who work behind the scenes to make it happen! Sara Carmichael of Story County Conservation keeps everyone on track and equipped with supplies. Heather Wilson of the Izaak Walton League of America helps train volunteers and has been leading up the new Nitrate Watch initiative. We rely on the IWLA’s Save Our Streams program for training materials and the Clean Water Hub for data entry. In addition to volunteer monitoring, Maryann Ryan and her team at the City of Ames Laboratory Services Division process weekly samples from 3 sites and monthly samples from 15 sites.

2022 Season

Volunteers participating

Sites tested at least once

Sites tested at least 20 times

Data sheets entered in the Clean Water Hub

2023 Season

Volunteers participating

Sites tested at least once

Sites tested at least 20 times

Data sheets entered in the Clean Water Hub

In March, Prairie Rivers will release a report detailing the findings. Here are a few preliminary numbers that give a sense of how 2023 stacks up to the previous year.

2022 Season

Weeks in Drought

E. coli (geomean) at best site

E. coli (geomean) at worst site

"Poor" readings in Clean Water Hub

2023 Season

Weeks in drought

E. coli (geomean) at best site

E. coli (geomean) at worst site

"Poor" readings in Clean Water Hub

Drought continues to limit where we have flowing water. Sometimes, most of the water in a creek is coming from sewage treatment plants, which are able to remove some pollutants but not others. E. coli bacteria (an indicator of fecal contamination) continues to be high in most waters, likely coming from multiple sources. Looking at E. coli averages (geometric means) for the 2023 recreation season, two swimming beaches in the county met the primary contact recreation standard (126 colonies/100mL) but only 1 of 14 streams with enough data to evaluate did, and three exceeded the secondary contact recreation standard (630 colonies/100mL). Due to restrictive state laws about “credible data”, these sites might appear on a list of “Waters in Need of Further Investigation” but won’t be counted on the 2024 Impaired Waters List.

We continue to work with partners locally and around the state on ways to interpret water quality data and make it more accessible.

Story County Water Monitoring Program

Prairie Rivers of Iowa Releases Story County Water Quality Monitoring Annual Report

by Mike Kellner | Mar 11, 2022

Prairie Rivers of Iowa has just released an annual report investigating water quality in streams and lakes around Story County. Prairie Rivers of Iowa worked with Story County Conservation, the City of Ames, and other partners in 2020 to initiate a locally-led water monitoring program including both volunteer and laboratory testing.

The report’s author Prairie Rivers of Iowa Water Quality Specialist Dan Haug states, “Our partners and volunteers have gone to a lot of trouble to test rivers and lakes across the county, so we take seriously the job of interpreting the data.” He continues, “It’s only the second year of the program, but we’re starting to see patterns that can help us evaluate nutrient reduction efforts and improve our streams for recreation and fisheries.

Water Quality Monitoring in Story County Annual Report Cover

Volunteer Rick Dietz and Prairie Rivers of Iowa Board President Reed Riskedahl test phosphorous in a tributary of Ioway Creek.

Some of the key findings detailed in the report include the risks of waterborne illnesses, algae blooms in lakes and streams, the impacts to aquatic life and the effects of excess nutrients being sent downstream, eventually to the Gulf of Mexico.

“The water monitoring planning team is working hard to bring together all the resources we can to conduct monthly water testing, equip volunteers, educate elected officials and the public about the many water quality issues in our lakes, rivers and streams,” according to Haug.

In 2021, E. coli bacteria was usually low at swimming beaches and parts of the South Skunk River, but high in most creeks. The influence of nitrogen and phosphorus loads from Story County did not have as much influence on hypoxia contamination to Gulf of Mexico in 2021 due to a dry year, but the plan calls for continued monitoring to determine the effects during normal to wet periods helping to identify hot spots and evaluate whether conservation practices are working.

Water quality monitoring results in Story County did however reveal that during dry conditions in 2021, the highest levels of nitrogen and phosphorus were found below wastewater treatment plants. Wastewater effluent may be contributing to low dissolved oxygen levels in some streams harming aquatic invertebrates yet more monitoring is needed to establish patterns.

Other findings during the past year conclude that untreated stormwater from older neighborhoods has extremely high levels of sediment, phosphorus and bacteria.

Water monitoring was guided by a ten-year plan written by nine local partners and facilitated by Prairie Rivers of Iowa.

Water samples were collected monthly from 15 sites and weekly from three sites, with laboratory support provided by the City of Ames. Story County Conservation launched a volunteer monitoring program with 17 individuals and one business participating. Prairie of Iowa used special hardware to collect samples of runoff from rainstorms.

The entire Story County 10-year Water Quality Monitoring Plan, Annual Report, water quality updates, real-time data and educational articles can be found here.

Making Sense of Water Quality Data – A Paddler’s View

by Dan Haug | Jan 31, 2022

Later this month, we are releasing a report with the findings from Story County’s 2021 water monitoring season.

In some ways, 2021 was an unlucky year to launch a water quality monitoring program. Story County was in drought conditions for much of the year, and smaller streams were frequently dry when we did our monitoring routes.

In some ways, it was an ideal year to launch a monitoring program, because weather always has an influence of water quality and the challenging conditions in 2021 forced us to better account for it.

For the report, this means asking a simple question: “was there enough water to float a canoe on the day you sampled?”

Iowa's first African American female mayor LaMetta Wynn being sworn in on January 3, 1996 as mayor of Clinton, Iowa.

When the South Skunk River is too low for paddling:

Not much water (and not much nitrogen and phosphorus) reaches the Gulf
“Hot spots” for nitrogen and phosphorus are below wastewater treatment plants

Nitrate levels during conditions suitable for paddling.

When the South Skunk River rises high enough for paddling:

“Hot spots” for nitrogen are in the Headwaters of the South Skunk River Watershed upstream of Ames, as shown in the graph
E. coli levels upstream of Ames (and Ioway Creek) get worse but still meet the standard
E. coli levels downstream of Ames (and Ioway Creek) get better, but still exceed the standard

If I had less curiosity and more sense, I would have written a short report: “great job everyone! We collected a lot of data. Here it is! It’s possible that drought had an influence on water quality.” This was more work, but I hope you get more out of it.