Fish Kill Event - Des Moines River
Downtown Des Moines
- Event ID
- 675
- Date of Kill
- 2/3/2006
- Waterbody Type
- River/Stream
- Cause Origin
- Natural
- Cause
- Environmental
- Mode
- N/A
- Magnitude
- 1 (1 - 100 fish killed)
- Kill Length
- not enumerated
- County
- Polk
- ESD Field Office
- FO 5
- Fisheries Office
- Boone Research Station
- LongDD
- -93.61766
- LatDD
- 41.58876
- Created Date
- 5/2/2006 12:00:00 AM
- Last Update
- 3/18/2019 11:18:07 AM
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.
Dozens, possibly hundreds, of 3 to 4-inch gizzard shad are dead in the Des Moines River in downtown Des Moines. The shad were confirmed dead by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources who responded to a call relayed by the Des Moines Police Department Thursday. Gizzard shad is a small fish found in many Iowa streams and federal flood control reservoirs. Iowa is on the northern end of the range for gizzard shad, which means the fish are not as tolerant to the cold water temperature and often die during the winter. A number of natural, winter related, shad only fish kills have happened, even during this mild winter, on the Mississippi River.