Are the local streams healthy?

Ohio EPA's 2024 Integrated Report as published in EPA's ATTAINS database: Ohio judges its rivers and streams watershed by watershed (1,545 assessment units) against the uses the Clean Water Act protects. The map shows the share of each ZIP's land in watersheds whose streams fail the aquatic-life standard, the one that says whether fish and insects can live there; the card adds recreation (bacteria), fish consumption and, where a stream is a drinking-water source, that use, plus the listed causes. Nearly every Ohio watershed fails the recreation standard because of bacteria, so aquatic life is the better yardstick. The card also carries Ohio EPA's fish consumption advisories for the rivers and lakes that touch the ZIP: which species to limit to a meal a month or six a year, and whether PCBs or mercury are the reason. The card also carries the USGS estimate of farm pesticide use in the county for 2018, with atrazine, the herbicide most often found in Ohio tap water, called out. Below that sits the county's 2022 Census of Agriculture profile: farms, acres, cropland share, livestock and crop acreage. The nearest Ohio EPA assessment station gives the actual fish, bug and habitat scores behind those verdicts. The nearest station of Ohio EPA's large river PFAS survey gives PFAS in the water and in fish. Ohio EPA's use designations give the miles of exceptional, warmwater, coldwater and modified streams in the ZIP and the nearest superior or outstanding water. Federal critical habitat for endangered mussels and fish is flagged where it crosses the ZIP. Reaches proposed for new antidegradation protection in the 2026 rules are noted.

1,229 of 1,233 ZIPs have data; median 81%.

Legend

Map of Ohio by Stream health

Source

EPA ATTAINS, Ohio 2024 Integrated Report assessment units (1,545 watershed polygons) overlaid on ZCTAs in Albers equal-area with the Lake Erie units clipped out: share of land in units not supporting aquatic life, recreation, fish consumption and drinking-water uses, with causes; Ohio EPA sport fish consumption advisories (SurfaceWater/DSW_FA_Consumption_SPS_Public) for water bodies touching the ZIP; USGS preliminary county agricultural pesticide use estimates for 2018 (high estimate) for the county; USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture county totals (NASS Quick Stats bulk file); Ohio EPA aquatic life use assessments (Monitoring_EA3 layer 1: IBI, ICI, QHEI and attainment by station); Ohio EPA aquatic life use designations and antidegradation tiers (SurfaceWater/Beneficial_Uses); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service final critical habitat polygons intersecting the ZIP; Ohio EPA proposed 2026 antidegradation tiers (SurfaceWater/Antideg_Proposed_2026)

EPA ATTAINS · Ohio integrated report · Ohio sport fish advisory · Ohio EPA advisory map

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