A large fish die-off at Lake San Antonio that started the day after the Fourth of July has only gotten worse.“Yeah, we have a mystery,” said the chief of Monterey County Parks, Bryan Flores.The die-off now has park rangers baffled and has forced the closure of the lake to all visitors; out of an abundance of caution.“It's difficult to keep people out of the water, especially on 100-degree days, and that was the fear that, you know, either dogs or people could potentially be impacted if there was something that could harm humans causing this fish die-off,” Flores said.County leaders originally believed triple-digit heat and low oxygen in the water were causing the die-off of mostly small bait fish but then deeper dwelling fish like carp, catfish, and bass started washing up dead. The cause of the die-off is now unknown, so on Tuesday county leaders made the call to shut down the park, forcing vacationers to pack up and leave.“There was a couple dozen campers that were currently there, but we were sold out for this coming weekend at south shore, where you can reserve campsites and then we were anticipating a thousands of people coming to north shore where you don't need a reservation and can camp right along the water,” Flores said.With campsites averaging $50 a night on the south shore, that's a huge hit for the county, which looks forward to the summer crowds.A multi-agency effort consisting of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, state water resources and county environmental health is now underway to test the water and dead fish for answers to the large-scale die-off. The lake is closed until further notice.“We're hopeful that the first part of next week we'll get some test results back that would shed some light on what's causing this, and hopefully it's not anything that would be of concern to humans, and we can get the lake reopened,” Flores said.But cleaning up the dead fish, which are beginning to decay and stink, could take weeks.County leaders say those who had reservations will be given user credits that they can use for future camping dates.See more coverage of top Central Coast stories here | Download our app | Download Very Local
A large fish die-off at Lake San Antonio that started the day after the Fourth of July has only gotten worse.
“Yeah, we have a mystery,” said the chief of Monterey County Parks, Bryan Flores.
The die-off now has park rangers baffled and has forced the closure of the lake to all visitors; out of an abundance of caution.
“It's difficult to keep people out of the water, especially on 100-degree days, and that was the fear that, you know, either dogs or people could potentially be impacted if there was something that could harm humans causing this fish die-off,” Flores said.
County leaders originally believed triple-digit heat and low oxygen in the water were causing the die-off of mostly small bait fish but then deeper dwelling fish like carp, catfish, and bass started washing up dead. The cause of the die-off is now unknown, so on Tuesday county leaders made the call to shut down the park, forcing vacationers to pack up and leave.
“There was a couple dozen campers that were currently there, but we were sold out for this coming weekend at south shore, where you can reserve campsites and then we were anticipating a thousands of people coming to north shore where you don't need a reservation and can camp right along the water,” Flores said.
With campsites averaging $50 a night on the south shore, that's a huge hit for the county, which looks forward to the summer crowds.
A multi-agency effort consisting of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, state water resources and county environmental health is now underway to test the water and dead fish for answers to the large-scale die-off. The lake is closed until further notice.
“We're hopeful that the first part of next week we'll get some test results back that would shed some light on what's causing this, and hopefully it's not anything that would be of concern to humans, and we can get the lake reopened,” Flores said.
But cleaning up the dead fish, which are beginning to decay and stink, could take weeks.
County leaders say those who had reservations will be given user credits that they can use for future camping dates.
See more coverage of top Central Coast stories here | Download our app | Download Very Local
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South Monterey County lake closes after large-scale fish die-off - KSBW Monterey
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