STOCKTON, Calif. — Dozens of dead fish have washed up on a lake in Stockton creating a stinky situation for several Brookside residents.
Since at least July 3, people living in the Brookside community in the area of March Lane and Riverbrook Drive have noticed and smelt the dead fish and murky waters along the shoreline of the lake, known as Brookside Lake.
John Huebel, a board member with the Brookside Homeowners Association tells ABC10 that the recent heat wave, mixed in with lawn fertilizers running off from nearby homes caused the sudden die-off.
Algae was already reported in the lake when hot temperatures arrived last week accelerating the algae's growth, Huebel said. Neighborhood storm drains run off into the lake meaning that any fertilizers used on lawns combined with the algae, which were reportedly running out of nutrients.
When the algae eventually died, Huebel said it began absorbing oxygen in the lake, suffocating the fish which also caused them to die.
"I think it's fine now, the oxygen levels have dropped down," said Huebel. "We're asking residents to not overfertilize or treat their lawns because all those chemicals go somewhere."
A maintenance team is assigned to clean up the lake once a week, but the homeowners association says they have upped maintenance to once a day to deal with the dead fish.
Hueber says that other lakes have had similar issues. A spokesperson for the City of Stockton said Friday that the city does not have control over the lakes within the homeowner's association area.
Watch more Stockton news from ABC10: Stockton gift shop closes due to crime
