Numerous landscape, climate, and instream predictors have been identified as important drivers of biological condition in streams

Due to the strong link between the landscape and aquatic ecosystems, changes in land use can indirectly affect ecological relationships by altering instream habitat and water quality. The volga river, which is a major tributary of the turkey river, has been identified as an iowa priority watershed with high recovery potential by the united states environmental protection agency. Furthermore, the iowa department of natural resources (idnr) has indicated that knowledge of fish populations and the distirbution of cold-water habitats throughout the volga river watershed is limited, warranting further evaluation to help identify priority area for conservation and restoration. Therefore, the objective of the proposed assessment is to work closely with idnr personnel to document the status and environmental drivers of the slimy sculpin (cottus cognatus), mottled sculpin (cottus bairdii), and brook trout (salvelinus fontinalis) and the distribution of cold-water habitats. Our methods will include using backpack electrofishing and habitat water quality surveys in wadable streams throughout the volga river watershed to document population strongholds for these important cold-water species. In addition, we will deploy over 80 temperature loggers at sites throughout the volga river watershed to identify cold-water habitats for stream reclassification efforts. The significance of this assessment is that IT will ultimately aid the iowa DNR in: 1) better understanding of sculpin and trout distributions and ecology, 2) identifying the most important local- and landscape-scale drivers regulating sculpin and trout populations, and 3) cold-water stream reclassification efforts throughout the driftless region. This assessment will also aid the dare partnership mission in protecting and enhancing cold, cool, and warm-water stream fishes and their habitats in the driftless region of iowa.