Beneficial Use Impairment 3: Degradation of Fish Populations
One of the ways we gauge the health and sustainability of our watersheds is to analyze the number, diversity, and pollution tolerance of the species and the fish in any given sample.
What the delisting guidance says -
This beneficial use will be considered restored when the following conditions are met: In the riverine areas upstream from the lake affected waters (lacustuary or fresh water estuary), the average Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) and the average Modified Index of Well Being (MIwb) values within an assessment unit do not significantly diverge from state biological criteria.
*Wading and boat refer to sampling methodology (i.e., wading in shallow water and use of a boat in deeper water) 1Targets for Limited Resource Waters (LRW) are based on benchmarks as there are no criteria in Ohio WQS. OR In lake affected waters (lacustuary or fresh water estuary), the average L-IBI and the average MIwb values do not diverge from state guidelines.
Progress toward delisting
22% (4 of the 18) of the applicable subwatersheds are below the delisting target.
The HUC12 Subwatersheds in attainment are Furnace Run, Yellow Creek, Boston Run, and Willow Lake. The Cuyahoga River Navigation Channel and Mogadore Reservoir are not applicable to this score. The management actions that have been developed will help improve the fish passage and in turn improve the fish populations throughout the AOC.