Three Winneshiek County lakes are on the Iowa DNR's Impaired Waters list

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has newly released a draft impaired waters list which includes three Winneshiek County lakes.

The list identifies surface waters that do not fully meet all applicable state water quality standards for their intended use and that need a water quality improvement plan.  In Winneshiek County, Cardinal Marsh, Lake Meyer and Silver Springs Pond near Calmar are on the list.

Of the 1,545 water segments studied, which include portions of rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands, 284 segments fully met the Iowa water quality standards for their intended use, while 489 uses were identified as needing further investigation and 586 segments did not fully meet one or more of the standards needed for all their intended use and were impaired.