Fish Kill Event - Whitewater Creek

Dead fish were found in Whitewater Creek at the Pilot Grove Road bridge in Section 24, T88N, R1W downstream to the North Cascade Road bridge in Section 01, T87N, R1W of Dubuque County. The length of the stream with dead fish between the uppermost bridge and the lowermost bridge was 6.19 miles (32,702 feet). The fish kill originated upstream from the Pilot Grove Road bridge in Section 24, T88N, R1W.

Fisheries staff had visited the site of the kill on Saturday, May 5, 2018 to determine the cause of the fish kill but were unsuccessful due to the time between the kill and the investigation. A caller had said dead fish were seen as early as Thursday, May 3, 2018.

Observations at all sites included murky, stained water with a brown color and a brown foamy substance that looked like manure solids floating on the surface. Instream habitat and substrate is considered fair to good in Whitewater Creek. The number of dead fish observed and their value are presented in the table that follows (i.e. these are not an estimate of the total fish killed). Many more fish were killed and not counted nor expanded to the total length of the kill. Objective was to document the fish kill given no source or responsible party was found.