County advisers and staff say low dissolved oxygen likely caused Clear Lake fish kill; white sturgeon sampled

Luis Santana, chair of the Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee and fish and wildlife director for Danoha Fish and Wildlife for Robinson Rancheria, told the board the fish kill occurred in the first two weeks of September and that field measurements point to a low dissolved-oxygen event.

“I took a shoreline sample and the Dissolved Oxygen was bad, but it wasn't too bad. It's definitely something that fish could live in,” Santana said, describing an initial shoreline reading of about 3.95 milligrams per liter in Soda Bay. He said he followed up the next day with vertical profiles and found far lower values across the water column at multiple sites.

Santana reported mid-lake profiles with extremely low oxygen: about 0.52 mg/L at roughly 3 feet below the surface, 0.28 mg/L at 17 feet and 0.22 mg/L at 30 feet. He said Dorn Bay readings included about 1.2 mg/L near the surface, about 1.0 mg/L at 7…