Source of Protivin Fish Kill Unknown

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating the cause of yet another fish kill in Northeast Iowa, this time in Howard County.

Last Thursday (July 23) the Iowa DNR Field Office in Decorah received a report of a fish kill on an unnamed tributary to Bohemian Creek.

The creek runs through Protivin in Howard County. The source of what killed the fish has not yet been determined.

The responding DNR staff did a fish count, and found about 5,000 non-game fish were dead in a half mile section of the tributary. There were no dead fish found in Bohemian Creek.

The DNR took water samples to be tested for pesticides, which could take about a week. A test for ammonia came back negative.

Authorities will continue to monitor the creek, and investigate where the source of the pollution came from.

Last week, there were fish kills in Allamakee and Clayton Counties.