Fish Kills (Des Moines, Ottumwa, Farmington: university, gated, living)

[Mahayana]

Fines on hog farms are not saving fish!

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/d...ls-fish-kills/

Despite millions of dollars lost from fish kills in Iowa over the decades, the amount of fines imposed on industrial hog farmers for polluting the state’s waterways is just one-sixtieth of the monetary value lost from fish kill events.

[NDak15]

The water pollution is pretty insane. Sad situation.

[duster1979]

Living maybe 1/4 mile from the Des Moines River in the southeast part of the state, I'm pretty confident that the majority of fish kills along the Des Moines River are the result of low water levels, much of which is the result of maintaining water levels in the reservoirs for recreational purposes. But of course the state isn't going to come to that conclusion.

There's no way that animal waste is a bigger issue now than it was 50 years ago when every quarter mile or so there was a farm raising anywhere from 100 to 1000 pigs in open lots that produced manure runoff into the waterways every time it rained. I'm no fan of confinement operations from a husbandry standpoint, but the environmental impact is far less than the old way.

[HodgePodge]

I'm certain that the fish kills can be traced to either poor water conditions (excess nutrients causing high ammonia / nitrates, etc) or habitat problems due to water fluctuations. Most likely both have exacerbated the problems.

Fish kills can be attributed to so many factors. Water pollution causing low oxygen levels or even toxic pollutants can cause the kills. Heck even a late winter thaw can cause fish kills.

As for blaming the pig farmers... well as a society we demand cheap meat, so anybody who purposely buys the cheap stuff is guilty.

[duster1979]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 2023
Summer heat causes fish kill on the lower Des Moines River
Video available on YouTube: DNR Fisheries Biologist, Mark Flammang, discusses the investigation and background of shovelnose sturgeon fish kill in the lower Des Moines River.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was notified on July 10 of a fish kill on the lower Des Moines River.
DNR staff from the Fisheries Bureau investigated and found an estimated 20,000 dead shovelnose sturgeon in a 60 mile river stretch from near Ottumwa to Farmington in southeast Iowa. Freshly dead fish collected on July 11 were submitted to Iowa State University for testing.
The investigation began with determining the start and end of the fish kill. DNR fisheries staff collected water temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels at nine locations along the fish kill path and sampled for ammonia. Using the American Fisheries Society (AFS) guidelines, staff started counting dead fish at bridge accesses and then expanded their count to free-flowing areas.
“We didn’t find low levels of dissolved oxygen or high levels of ammonia which is usually indicative of some sort of spill, so it comes down to high water temperatures coupled with the low flows that we are experiencing at present. Water temperatures are in the upper 80s and exceed levels known to cause shovelnose sturgeon mortality,” said Mark Flammang, Iowa DNR fisheries biologist. “It was also limited to shovelnose sturgeon; no other species were impacted.”
Shovelnose sturgeon are relatively abundant below Ottumwa, as many of these fish move from the Mississippi River into this section of the Des Moines River during the spring and summer. “Ottumwa has one of the largest populations of shovelnose sturgeon in the world,” explains Flammang.
The shovelnose sturgeon population is a unique resource in the Des Moines River. “Many of these fish are over 40 years old. It will take several years to repopulate this long-living fish,” Flammang said.
This section of the Des Moines River has had sizable fish kills over the years caused by low water levels and high water temperatures, with the most recent in 2012. DNR fisheries staff partnered with Missouri Conservation to research the cause of that kill and learn more about the effects to shovelnose sturgeon populations.
If you see dead or stressed fish at a lake or river, call the DNR’s 24-hour spill line at 515-725-8694 as soon as possible. Quick reporting can help DNR staff identify the cause of a fish kill and potentially stop a fish kill in progress.
Media Contact: Tammie Krausman, DNR COMs Bureau Chief at tammie.krausman@dnr.iowa.gov.