What is killing the fish? That's the question scientists have set out to answer after the discovery of dead fish in San Jose's Guadalupe River.
NBC Bay Area’s Damian Trujillo joined the scientists as they looked for clues.
At first, the Valley Water District brought out the hazmat team to see what was killing the fish, but it turns out it may have been the drought and last week’s rain that is killing them.
The river water has become murky since last week’s storm. Fish still swim downstream on the Guadalupe, but there are also plenty of dead fish visible on a dry riverbed: carp, largemouth bass and a native fish called Sacramento suckers.
After NBC Bay Area called the Valley Water District, the agency brought out a team of experts to see what is causing the deaths. After studying the riverbed, Biologist Jae Abel said he's been seeing this quite a bit, and he blames the drought.
“As the water table drops, all those pools will shrink,” Abel said, pointing at the dead fish.
Abel said last week's storm might have also contributed to the deaths. That's when temporary pools formed on the Guadalupe from street runoff water, which sometimes contains contaminants.
Local
"That can stir fish up too, and move around, and then they get stuck as the creek went back down to its intermittent condition,” Abel said.
The water district said there might be a day when the Guadalupe runs dry downstream as well. But Abel feels it might not be wise to relocate the remaining fish because there is nowhere to put them.
Abel said it might be a case where city leaders have no choice but to simply let nature take its course.
