EPA approves Iowa water designations

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday approved Iowa's designated use changes for 430 water bodies and disapproved proposed changes for 89 water bodies.

“This is part of an ongoing process to accurately define the highest use levels for individual bodies of water so that the appropriate anti-pollution standards can be applied,” said John DeLashmit, chief of the EPA's Region 7 Water Quality Branch.

The Iowa DNR submitted the new and revised surface water quality standards to EPA for review and approval, as required by the Clean Water Act.

The DNR based its recommendations on site-specific field data gathered in and near streams, lakes and rivers, as well as on comments submitted by people who use those bodies of water for such activities as wading, swimming, fishing and canoeing and for human consumption of fish and other aquatic life.

"The higher the level of use, the higher the level of protection required," DeLashmit said.

The disapproval of 89 bodies of water suggests nothing about the quality of the water, DeLashmit said.

Some disapprovals were pegged to errors, which can occur in large data-collection projects, he said.

Some stream segments that had been reclassified did not have data collection points within their new boundaries, according to DeLashmit.

Other reasons for disapproval include the collection of data during periods of drought and outside the normal March 15 to Nov. 15 recreation period.

The water bodies for which designated uses were disapproved will be reassessed and resubmitted, DeLashmit said.