Iowa DNR
Fish Kill DatabaseDB

Fish Kill Event - Deep Creek

Plymouth County

Event ID
1023
Date of Kill
3/15/2022
Waterbody Type
River/Stream
Cause Origin
Anthropogenic
Cause
Animal Waste
Mode
Discharge
Animal Waste Source
Confinement
Animal Type
Cattle (Dairy)
Approx Head
Unknown/Unspecified
Magnitude
2 (101 - 1000 fish killed)
Kill Length
3.00 miles
Investigation Expenses
$1,233.13
County
Plymouth
ESD Field Office
FO 3
Fisheries Office
Spirit Lake Hatchery
LongDD
-95.90303
LatDD
42.89535
Created Date
9/29/2022 10:45:02 AM
Last Update
9/29/2022 10:46:40 AM
For more information about this fish kill event, contact the Field Office or Fisheries Office listed above.
Impacted Assessment Segments
Lat/Long uses WGS84 datum

Highlighted river segments indicate those impacted in part or whole by this fish kill event. It is not meant to represent the actual extent of the kill.

Onsite Comments

The fish kill originated from manure entering a tributary of Deep Creek at (42.94174, -95.88054) and flowing downstream approximately 2,486 yards before entering Deep Creek. Dead fish were observed along 5,400 yards of Deep Creek from 110th St (42.89535, -95.90303) to 130th St (42.86624, -95.91919) in Plymouth County.

Manure from a free stall dairy barn was discharged from the barn and entered a tile intake.

A fish kill assessment could not be performed due to frozen and partially frozen stream conditions. Dead fish were observed in areas of open water along 5,400 yards of stream during the investigation. Initially observed hundreds of dead fish where the stream was open, but as the stream opened up over the past few days, many of those fish were either washed away or picked up by scavengers. We also noted a number of dead fish on the bottom of the stream - making counts unfeasible.