Up To 1,000 Pounds Of Dead Fish Removed From Lake Elsinore

LAKE ELSINORE (CBSLA.com) — Up to 1,000 pounds of dead fish had to be removed from Lake Elsinore this week because of low water levels due to the drought, increasingly hot temperatures and other conditions, city officials said.

Lake Elsinore city officials, who announced a Stage 1 Lake Watch Alert because of the increased vulnerability for a fish die-off, removed between 600 and 1,000 pounds of mostly large carp and threadfin shad from the lake Tuesday.

Tuesday's minor fish kill is a direct result of low water levels, increasingly hot temperatures during the day and night, a fishery imbalance and declining dissolved oxygen levels for a sustained period of time, city officials said.

"At this time, the fish die off has been very minor and our teams have done a tremendous job of removing the fish as quickly as possible," Senior Management Analyst Nicole Dailey said.

With the lake watch alert, city officials say they hope to engage the community and solicit help should the lake suffer a major fish kill this summer.