LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — After receiving calls Sunday that fish were dying in the duck pond at Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park, environmental officials investigated that night and Monday and found low water levels due to the lack of rain and low oxygen levels to be the main causes.

Low water and low oxygen levels are the main reasons for the fish kill, said Rob Miller, regional supervisor for the Kentucky Division of Water Quality.

“Some of the fish are dying at night because that is when the algae feed on the oxygen,” he said. “During the day, the oxygen level is higher. There is still plenty of fish in the pond.”

Carol Kirby, temporary park manager, said the fish kills have happened four or five times in the past, but not last summer because there was plenty of rain.

“This low water level and the temperature of the water on top causes it to churn with the cold water underneath it,” she said. “Where we grind the corn, that lowers the level, too. When we have the low rainfalls, the water is just not moving. To say any one thing is the situation from it, but everything combined together creates the problem.”

To help the situation Kirby suggested not grinding the corn to sell to visitors.

“I am talking with our chief naturalist, but I’m pretty sure they will say to stop selling the duck food. It will affect our sales. The fish and wildlife suggested we not feed them, also. It is park policy to not feed the wildlife, but there’s no way on earth to stop children from feeding the ducks.”

Kirby said there was no foul play in the fish kill.

“As far as the fish, it was not contaminated, it wasn’t poison, it wasn’t anything of that nature. It happens every little bit when we don’t have the rain. We probably won’t be grinding much on this weekend because of no rain.”  

It has been abnormally dry since June 1, but it’s not yet considered a drought in Laurel County, said Hal Klingenberg, a meteorologist with the Jackson National Weather Service.

“Laurel County had 0.37 inches of rain from June 1st to the 19th,” he said. “Last year, for the same time period, you had 3.95 inches. It’s certainly getting dry. You are 4.69 inches below normal for the year since January 1. A sizable chunk of that has been this month.”

There is only a 30 percent chance of rain today and tonight and 20 percent chance on Saturday and Sunday night, he said.

“There is some possibility of rain,” he said. “It’s not really a very high probability. This pattern is more typical a little bit later in the summer.”

While Laurel County is not in a drought, Clay County and part of Knox County and some other eastern counties are in a moderate drought, said Shawn Harley, a meteorologist with JNWS.

“In the next two weeks, the dryness will intensify and expand,” he said. “The last drought was 2008-09.”

For a map of the counties in moderate drought, visit Jackson National Weather Service’s website at www.crh.noaa.gov/jkl and click on Parts of Eastern Kentucky Officially in Moderate Drought.



cmills@sentinel-echo.com