Arizona officials have closed San Carlos Lake to the public indefinitely after drought conditions and water releases from Coolidge Dam caused the death of the lake’s entire fish population, the San Carlos Recreation and Wildlife Department said Friday.
The department said in a Facebook statement that drought and water released from the dam “resulted in a major fish kill affecting approximately 100% of the fish population.” Decomposing fish now pose health hazards to anyone who tries to fish or swim in the lake, officials said, barring fishing, harvesting or possessing fish, as well as “any associated activities,” until further notice.
The reservoir stretches 158 miles (255 kilometers) of shoreline and holds state records for largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish and flathead fish, according to the Arizona news website AZFamily.com. Officials regularly stock the lake year-round with brown trout and rainbow trout.
Video footage and images provided to Phoenix television station KSAZ showed the lake’s surface covered with floating fish carcasses.
The department said it would “continue to monitor conditions and provide updates as they become available.” In the Facebook announcement, the department asked visitors to “respect the closure and avoid the affected area for their safety.”
San Carlos Lake sits on San Carlos Apache tribal lands. An X user identifying himself as a tribal member said tribal officials had lifted restrictions on the number of fish anglers could keep, anticipating that lower water levels would stress the fish population. MSI previously reported that Arizona, California and Nevada have pledged deep water cuts to save Colorado River reservoirs, including Lake Powell and Lake Mead, amid a two-decade drought that has shrunk the river’s major storage basins.
The lake was formed by Coolidge Dam along the Gila River and lies about 125 miles from Phoenix.
On Facebook, a user lamented that San Carlos Lake had been “full almost three years ago,” calling its collapse “so heartbreaking.” Another said: “So sad. Lots of memories on that lake.”