Iowa DNR
Iowa DNR
Fish Kill DatabaseDB

Fish Kill Event - Prairie Creek

Prairie Creek between Watkins and Blairstown.

Event ID
690
Date of Kill
7/18/2006
Waterbody Type
River/Stream
Cause Origin
Anthropogenic
Cause
Animal Waste
Mode
Runoff
Animal Waste Source
Feedlot
Animal Type
Cattle (Unspecified)
Approx Head
Unknown/Unspecified
Magnitude
8 (100,001 - 500,000 fish killed)
Estimated Fish Killed
108,882
Kill Length
14.00 miles
Valuation
$18,366.78
Investigation Expenses
$757.28
County
Benton
ESD Field Office
FO 1
Fisheries Office
Lake Macbride Station
LongDD
-92.16259
LatDD
41.97189
Created Date
7/20/2006 12:00:00 AM
Last Update
2/21/2024 1:17:28 PM
For more information about this fish kill event, contact the Field Office or Fisheries Office listed above.
Impacted Assessment Segments
Lat/Long uses WGS84 datum

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 DNR has traced a Benton County fish kill in a small tributary of Prairie Creek to an open feedlot. The operator of the relatively small feedlot had been watering cattle to cool them off, leaving puddles of water to mix with manure and corn glucose, a feed additive, in the lot. Rainfall the previous night apparently washed the manure-contaminated water into the stream and then into Prairie Creek. Dead fish were found in Prairie Creek for up to 14 miles downstream There were no dead fish found in the unnamed trib at the AFO of the kill's origin. The DNR found dead carp, white suckers, smallmouth bass and minnows below where the small stream joined Prairie Creek. Dead fish were observed in Prairie Creek between the road crossing on 17th Avenue in Union Township (T83N-R11W-S29) and the road crossing on 27th Avenue in St.Clair Township (T82N-R10W-S26).

SPECIES

NUMBER KILLED

MONETARY VALUE

Minnows, chubs, etc.

1 - 6" -------- 106,603

$9,594.27

Darters

1 - 2" ---------- 24
2 - 3" ----------123

$4.32
$40.59

Suckers & Redhorse

3 - 5" ----------123
6" --------------- 91
7 - 12" ------- 352
13 --------------- 6
>13" ----------- 41

$116.85
$108.29
$834.24
$21.36
$290.12

Smallmouth Bass

2 - 15" ------- 411

$6,165.00

Channel Catfish

35

$525.00

Stonecats

1 - 6" -------- 255

$127.50

Stonerollers

1- 6" --------- 634

$57.06

Carp

4 - 12 lbs. -- 38

$434.36

Carpsuckers

1 - 3" -------- 117
4 - 6" ---------- 6
1 - 2 lbs. ---- 21

$8.19
$0.48
$39.06

Total

108,882

$18,366.78