Why are dead fish turning up at a Gage Park Pond?

TOPEKA (KSNT) – The appearance of dead fish at a local pond has a few explanations, according to a local park official.

Kendra Wisner sent KSNT 27 News photos of the Doran Rock Garden pond located in Gage Park displaying a large number of dead fish floating at the surface. Wisner took to social media, saying the pond was giving off a foul odor and was ‘shocked’ to see the pond in such a state.

KSNT 27 News reached out to Mike McLaughlin with Shawnee County Parks and Recreation to learn more about what caused this issue. He said the best guess is that a sudden temperature change with last week’s storms likely caused the fish to die. A rapid change in the water’s temperature, referred to as a temperature inversion by McLaughlin, are not uncommon events and can lead to fish deaths. A similar situation occurred at Lake Shawnee in 2022.

McLaughlin said the majority of the fish that died over the weekend were cleaned up by Sunday, July 17 with more removed the next day. He said there are still more fish swimming in the pond and more water will be added in the coming days.

McLaughlin said the pond isn’t stocked with fish and those currently living in the pond likely come from people dumping unwanted fish into the water.