Fish Kill Event - Bear Creek

FO3 received a page early on Saturday morning from a chub fisherman near Meridan in Cherokee County. He said there were “hundreds” of dead chubs and minnows under a bridge north of Meridan in Bear Creek. Bear Creek flows northeasterly from that point about one mile and discharges into Mill Creek. Water quality parameters were normal with high DO and low ammonia. Dead fish were only observed under two bridges. The second bridge, on C16 right before Bear Creek enters Mill Creek, had a few floaters that appeared to come from a pooled area under the bridge at L Avenue where most of the dead fish were observed, just south of County Road C16. Flows in the creeks was high from rains in the area over the past few weeks. No dying fish were observed. This area had received approximately 1 inch of rain during the previous two days. We contacted two cattle facilities in the area but saw no evidence of runoff. It is possible some pollutants entered the stream and were washed away by the time we responded. Fisheries personnel did not conduct a count as no obvious source was determined. It is also possible that DO levels dropped in the pooled water overnight, killing fish, and then returned to normal. It is also possible that the fish died of “natural” causes.