Fish Kill Article - InFishermen

[Bill Babler]

I'm with Bites on this one.  Sewage is not the problem.  Table Rock is still just about as devoid of that as any lake in the country.  The regulations here are some of the strictest there are.  Most every subdivision, even the older ones have sewer systems, and unlike lake of the Ozarks where it is a huge problem there are very few septic and lateral fields here.  The ones are very new age, and there are just about no leach fields, most are evaporation fields.

This water has been high a long time.  We are still near 922, that is just not enough movement.

 

[merc1997 Bo]

bill, i still believe that our green slime issue has to do with human population on the lake.  there are many other things that go down the sewer system than human waste.  things like detergents and other cleaning agents all go down the drain.  i will agree that there are some areas that have a community sewage system, but the septic systems with lateral lines far out number those.  any house built on a lot in the table rock area with a septic system can not physically have enough feet of lateral line to do an adequate job.  then when we get back to the population around the lake, we have all types of yard sprays and fertilizers going into the lake that were never present until the population explosion around the lake.

 

people are always going to love to live around the lake.  here is one other thought about the green slime, and that is it first started in beaver.  beaver water comes right on down the white river chain.

 

bo

[Flysmallie]

You also have a very large storm runoff coming out of Springfield. I know a lot of you want to dismiss that but it's happening.

[*T*]

Interested in which sections of the lake have more visible dead fish vs. which appear to not be affected much?  (Any isolated areas, upper rivers, mid-lake, dam area, close proximity to residential areas?)

Also, evidence that bluegill, goggle-eye, carp, threadfin, paddlefish, gar or catfish are also part of fish kill?

Been hoping that some of the more moderate temperatures will be helpful.

[Fishin Hodge]

T,

The reports I have heard have been up the rivers and up the White River itself.  The Dam area of the lake has been unaffected to this point.  I know of a paddlefish that was found over the weekend, but mostly walleye, shad, crappie, and some bass.

[Bass Enforcer]

Diddo Bill

[mojorig]

Little more info about one of the facts influencing the high water low DO kills occurring on TR right now.  This is from pages 2-3 of "Hypolimnetic Dissolved-Oxygen Dynamics within Selected White River Reservoirs, Northern Arkansas–Southern Missouri, 1974–2008" by Jeanne L. De Lanois and W. Reed Green link: http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2011/5090/pdf/sir2011-5090.pdf).

I hope this helps the conversation. Fish kills of the nature have occurred in Lake Norfork in 2002, 2004, and 2011. It  occurred in Bull Shoals Lake in 2004 and 2011.  

In general, hypolimnetic temperature and DO concentrations vary from summer to summer in reservoirs, more so than in natural lakes, largely in response to the magnitude of flow into and release out of the water body. In a bottom-release reservoir, during periods of high outflow, the coldest hypolimnetic waters are often released, and replaced by the warmer waters from above (Cole and Hannan, 1990). Typically, the temperature of hypolimnetic waters during years of high inflow/outflow is greater than during years of low inflow/outflow. These differences in water temperature affect the amount of DO in the hypolimnion because warmer water contains less DO than cooler water and yet causes greater DO consumption because of increased metabolic rates.

The general pattern in hypolimnetic DO dynamics following the onset of thermal stratification has been described in deep-storage reservoirs (Cole and Hannan, 1990) (fig. 1). In general, the hypolimnetic anoxic zone initially develops in the thalweg (deepest areas of the lake) in the upper end of the reservoir following the setup of thermal stratification. The zone of hypolimnetic anoxia then extends upstream and downstream as the summer stratification season proceeds. At the same time, the anoxic zone originally develops in the deepest areas of the lake but then extends vertically upward and laterally out of the thalweg. In many cases, the hypolimnetic anoxic zone extends into the metalimnion (the stratum between the epilimnion and hypolimnion exhibiting marked thermal discontinuity). The pattern in hypolimnetic DO depletion results from an interaction of flow and morphology, which in turn affects sedimentation, primary production, and the hypolimnetic temperature regime.

[Sore Thumbs]

Not sure why they don't just open all the dams at the same time and keep a constant avg flow going over a longer period of time. That way there is no sudden rise or fall. 

[mojorig]

They must keep a specific water level at the Newport and Georgetown gauges down stream on the White River as described in this water management plan (http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/docs/White_River_Master_Manual.pdf). I would image there would be legal ramifications if they didn't follow this plan as well if they let the water get above the flood pool in each lake.

[Champ188]

Bottom line is it's not about the fish.