Duluth Reservoir Drain Cited as Cause of Tischer Creek Fish Kill

A Duluth creek saw over 1,000 dead fish wash ashore about one month ago, and officials are citing a drain from the Woodland Reservoir.

On August 1st, residents near Tischer Creek began to contact the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to report the strange phenomenon up and down the creek. Investigators from the Department of Natural Resources reportedly counted well over 1,000 dead fish on the shores, mostly brook trout and minnows. They also noted that all of the aquatic life in the area had been affected.

At the time, officials speculated that the fish kill could have been related to the release of nearly 500,000 gallons of water from the Woodland Reservoir. However, according to a Northern News Now report, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says the City of Duluth actually drained about 1.7 million gallons of chloraminated water from the reservoir over about 15 hours.

MPCA officials say the drainage did not cause a health risk for humans, but was deadly for the fish. The drainage was part of a maintenance operation the city was conducting on the drinking water system. City officials also reported another smaller leak at the reservoir a couple weeks later, but quickly routed the water into sanitary system.

Field crews for the MPCA have been collecting samples from various areas of the creek for analysis. They hope that analysis will give them a better idea of the impact the fish kill will have on the creek and how long it will take the fish population to recover.