Fish Kill Event - Des Moines River
Ottumwa
- Event ID
- 944
- Date of Kill
- 8/4/2017
- Waterbody Type
- River/Stream
- Cause Origin
- Natural
- Cause
- Disease/Parasite/Stress
- Mode
- N/A
- Magnitude
- 4 (5001 - 10,000 fish killed)
- Estimated Fish Killed
- 10,000
- Kill Length
- 7.10 miles
- Valuation
- $150,000.00
- Investigation Expenses
- $540.68
- County
- Wapello
- ESD Field Office
- FO 6
- Fisheries Office
- Rathbun Hatchery
- LongDD
- -92.52366
- LatDD
- 41.08529
- Created Date
- 3/6/2019 2:42:02 PM
- Last Update
- 3/6/2019 2:44:00 PM
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.
The cause of the kill was not obvious. Observed fish exhibited substantial decay and had likely been dead for between 2 and 7 days. No stressed or moribund fish were observed. However, stream flows are relatively low, approximately 1,500 cfs at the time of the kill, although minimum flows in this reach are just 300 cfs. All water quality data were normal, no extremes were observed in ammonia, dissolved oxygen, or temperature. The species makeup of the kill was exclusively channel catfish. No other species were impacted. The size range of affected fish varied from approximately 10 inches to approximately 20 inches. Therefore, it is unlikely that the kill is due to any specific contaminant. We believe the cause of the kill to be due to some environmental condition originating from concentrating biomass during this low flow period, and may be associated with a species-specific disease.