(Spencer)– The Iowa Department of Natural Resources investigated yet another fish kill in northwest Iowa over the weekend.
This one happened on Stony Creek, just north of Everly on the Clay-Dickinson county line. The DNR says it found hundreds of dead chubs and northerns along a 10-mile stretch of the stream, which flows into the Ocheyedan River.
Like other fish kills reported last week in the area, the DNR says the likely cause of this one is the same. The agency says recent heavy rains likely washed manure into many northwest Iowa streams with low-flow conditions. They say decomposing manure releases ammonia, which uses up available oxygen in the water, suffocating fish.
DNR officials add a fish kill on another local waterway was still going on last Friday. A fish kill on Willow Creek near Royal was first investigated last Thursday. The DNR says pollution continues to move down that stream.
DNR investigators say they’ve identified possible sources of pollution that lead to the fish kills in Stony Creek and Willow Creek. They say their investigations continue and that they’re considering appropriate legal action if laboratory tests confirm the source of the pollution.
