Garnavillo – The fisheries biologist with the DNR’s Decorah Trout Hatchery estimated more than 15,272 fish, including 532 rainbow trout, were killed in a 7.5 mile stretch of Buck Creek, near Garnavillo, last week.

The DNR received a call on June 27 from a citizen who saw fish dying in the stream on the morning of June 26. The area received a heavy rainfall on June 25.

When rainfall washes across the land, street or parking lot, it can collect anything left on the landscape, like lawn fertilizer, lawn clippings, fuel or oil leaked from vehicles and manure applied to a field. Once in a stream, the material can reduce the amount of oxygen available to aquatic life and cause a fish kill.

Other fish killed during the pollution event include suckers, darters, stonerollers and various minnows. The fish are valued at $11,752.46.
The incident remains under investigation.


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