Fish Kill Event - Willow Creek
~ 4 miles SE of Alton
- Event ID
- 576
- Date of Kill
- 9/11/2003
- Waterbody Type
- River/Stream
- Cause Origin
- Unknown
- Cause
- Unknown (Anthro Suspected)
- Mode
- N/A
- Magnitude
- 0 (Unknown/Unspecified fish killed)
- Kill Length
- 3.00 miles
- County
- Sioux
- ESD Field Office
- FO 3
- Fisheries Office
- Spirit Lake Hatchery
- LongDD
- -95.97058
- LatDD
- 42.93936
- Created Date
- 9/24/2003 12:00:00 AM
- Last Update
- 3/14/2019 12:24:05 PM
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.
Willow Creek area at Kingbird Ave and 490th St, Sec 30, East Orange twsp, Sioux Twsp. Field sampling results at time of investigation were DO=9ppm, NH3=2ppm, pH=8.2. This stream has many feedlots along its banks, the largest seems to be Poverty Acres. A 5-6 inch rain the day of kill probably flooded the stream with farm and feedlot runoff. Press release as follows: A fish kill was reported on Sunday along a three mile stretch of Willow Creek in Sioux County near Granville. These fish had also been dead for several days. Ammonia levels taken from the water on Sunday showed slightly elevated levels. Since the kills were several days old, no source could be identified in either incident. “Water levels are extremely low because of the drought conditions making them that much more susceptible to any kind of pollution that might have washed in from the recent rainfall,” said Ken Hessenius, supervisor of the DNR’s Spencer field office. It is unlikely that a responsible party will be identified in either incident because of the time lapse between when the kills occurred and when they were discovered.
Final report suggests that the 5-6" rain "probably flooded the stream with farm and feedlot runoff."