Lake's fish go belly up
Fertilizer runoff likely killed the 250 poggies downtown
By KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 08/06/08
Roughly 250 fish turned up dead in the Maria Sanchez Lake in downtown St. Augustine on Tuesday, and city engineers believe heavy rain over the weekend is to blame.
Marcus Pinson, city engineer, said a downpour on Saturday likely caused fertilizers from yards at the homes that surround the lake to run off into the water, causing the fish kill.
The city flushed the lake and brought in more water from the Intracoastal Waterway.
The lake is an off-shoot of the Intracoastal; a weir connects the two bodies of water. The city controls the amount of water from the Intracoastal that flows into the lake by opening and closing the weir, Pinson said.
The city's parks department cleaned up the dead fish. Pinson said city staff will continue to test the lake's water and monitor the fish.
Although the lake has numerous types of fish, such as mullet and red fish, only Menhadens, known as poggies, were found dead in the lake.
"Poggies are very tempermental fish," Pinson said.
Several Woodstorks and other birds feasted on the fish Tuesday afternoon, but Pinson said even if the fish did die from a chemical it won't affect the birds.
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