Fish Kill Event - Mud Creek
Le Mars
- Event ID
- 773
- Date of Kill
- 7/22/2008
- Waterbody Type
- River/Stream
- Cause Origin
- Anthropogenic
- Cause
- Organic Material
- Mode
- Runoff
- Magnitude
- 2 (101 - 1000 fish killed)
- Estimated Fish Killed
- 270
- Kill Length
- 1.00 miles
- Valuation
- $68.73
- Investigation Expenses
- $460.72
- County
- O'Brien
- ESD Field Office
- FO 3
- Fisheries Office
- Spirit Lake Hatchery
- LongDD
- -95.78081
- LatDD
- 42.98813
- Created Date
- 9/15/2008 1:54:00 PM
- Last Update
- 3/26/2019 1:24:42 PM
Impacted Assessment Segments
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 cause of this kill appears to be silage pile runoff, not manure. Heavy rains on Saturday night caused runoff from the concrete area and silage pile into a stormwater ditch to the creek. Apparently, the runoff was directed away from the manure lagoon, as it was designed. The kill extended from just downstream of the dairy to Highway 10, about 3 miles. Dilution from Mill Creek seems to have prevented a more extensive kill. Silage leachate is extremely high in BOD so it is likely the fish died of oxygen deprivation.