SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — Dead fish are washing up along the banks of the Jordan River in great numbers and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality is investigating the cause behind it.
If you’ve run, biked or golfed along the Jordan River lately, you may have smelled it before you saw it.
“It just takes me back to when I would go camping and people would clean fish,” said Mark Thomas, who lives near the river in Lehi.
Thomas first noticed the odor Thursday night.
“Then this morning, I just came by and saw all the fish floating down,” Thomas said as he walked his dog Alvin along the Jordan River Trail.
In just the small section I walked with Thomas and others near Thanksgiving Park, I spotted hundreds of dead fish - the issue seems to stretch for miles.
“We got further up the river and there’s just clumps of dead fish and it just smells terrible,” said Kailee Jones, who also lives in Lehi.
Søren Simonsen with the Jordan River Commission and says this is most likely the result of harmful algal blooms (HABs) that have spilled into the river from Utah Lake.
“It will take some time to get cleaned up for sure, or washed down the river,” said Simonsen, who serves as the commission’s executive director.
FOX 13 News also talked with John Mackey, the director of Utah’s Division of Water Quality.
While some of the dead are invasive carp, Mackey says it’s a saddening sight that’s a sign of an unhealthy ecosystem that will affect other species like white bass, catfish, the endangered June sucker and more.
It’s also keeping some people off of the Jordan River Trail for the foreseeable future.
“We come out often, we love this trail,” Jones said. “So it kind of sucks that there’s dead fish in the water.”
Water quality officials noted with this bloom - there’s not much that can be done until the weather cools and water levels come back up.
“They’re happening in many water bodies - so it’s not unique to the Jordan River or Utah Lake,” Simonsen said.
They do note pollutants in runoff contribute to this problem, so you can take some steps to support this watershed.
“Helping to clean our storm drains, around your home, your business, your school, and your church,” said Simonsen.
But with the harm it can do to people and pets, they’re using this unfortunate scene to remind people to watch for advisories and stay out of these waters.
“We usually let them drink out of the river but not today,” said Jones as she and a friend looked down at their dogs.
You can visit the Division of Water Quality website here.
