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Fish Kill Cause Identified at Lake Audubon
Media Contact:
Mike Marohl, (701) 221-1259, mmarohl@usbr.gov
Tyler Johnson, tjohnson@usbr.gov
For Release: July 16, 2010
BISMARCK, N.D.- The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have identified the cause of a minor fish kill at Lake Audubon located approximately 70 miles north of Bismarck, N.D. When gates were opened as part of pumping plant operations a school of Cisco entered the pumping plant conduit system and became trapped when the gates were closed.
"There is currently an unusual situation with Lake Sakakawea water elevation being higher than Lake Audubon," said Dennis Breitzman, Area Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation. "Water can move from Lake Sakakawea to Lake Audubon through the Snake Creek Pumping Plant by gravity. Gravity flow is much less than pumped flow and allows fish to move into and through the plant. Fish entrainment is much less likely when pumps are operating."
Cisco die-offs have occurred in the past at Lake Audubon, but this appears to be an isolated incident restricted to fish trapped within the conduit system. The minor fish kill was not caused by pollutants, and poses no hazard to the public or other fish and wildlife in the area.
Cisco are coldwater fish and it is believed that the water temperature within the pumping plant was warmer than the fish could tolerate. When the pumping plant was operated later in the day, the current from the pumps forced the dead fish into Lake Audubon.
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