Authorities are investigating a situation that has left more than 50,000 fish dead in a Kansas City-area cove, Your content has learned.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is monitoring a fish mortality in Brush Creek in Kansas City. The event apparently started on June 12. MDC was notified on June 14 and began monitoring the creek.

Fish kills affected 4.1 miles of the stream, said Jake Colehour, MDC’s fisheries management biologist. Dead fish were found from Belleview Avenue in Country Club Plaza to an area downstream from Elmwood Avenue. Colehour estimates that the event killed 1,900 common carp, 240 silver carp and 50,000 sunfish.

All of the large carp were found in a basin or pond between two concrete weirs from Bruce R. Watkins Parkway to downstream from Elmwood Avenue.

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According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, Colehour said heavy rain in the area on June 11 could have caused water levels to rise and carp swimming upstream in that area. When the water levels dropped, they were unable to swim to the Blue River, which connects to the Missouri River.

Biologists say the concrete structures in the creek sometimes create standing water conditions with high water temperatures and low oxygen levels that can trigger the death of fish, especially in the summer.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has tested the water and is also investigating fish mortality. MNR will determine the cause. Kansas City Parks and Recreation maintains a greenway and trails along Brush Creek.

Each year, statewide, the MDC manages approximately 200 fish mortalities and other water quality-related events that pose a threat to fish, wildlife, and recreation. Half are caused by natural events and the rest by pollution. MDC is partnering with the Missouri DNR to investigate fish kills in our streams, rivers and lakes and ensure water quality is restored.

To report a fish mortality, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zr6.

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