Residents near the Campus Lake have noticed an increasingly foul smell during the past week.
Dozens of silver-colored, dead fish have washed up on the shore near Blake Hall. The fish are floating in shallow water near the drainage pipes that empty into the lake.
“It’s just gross,” said Janet Bordelon, Blake Hall resident and business freshman. “It’s hard to go to and from class and have to smell that everyday.”
Bordelon said she started to notice the smell when the weather became warmer.
Steve Waller, assistant director for the Department of Residential Life, said the department does not handle lake issues since the department has no ownership over the lakes.
“Facility Services would handle this,” Waller said. “Residential Life is not responsible for lake maintenance.”
Fred Fellner, Facility Services assistant director of landscape services, said his department usually contacts city-parish environmental quality specialists to assess lake situations.
“We might just send someone over and get it cleaned up with nets,” Fellner said.
Fellner said dead fish do not normally appear until late summer when oxygen levels in the water decrease. He said recent high temperatures may have caused an oxygen depletion.
Allen Rutherford, a University professor of renewable natural resources, also said oxygen depletion could have caused the fish to die.
“It’s probably not chemicals,” Rutherford said. “Many things can mess up the photosynthesis process.”
Although Rutherford has not seen the dead fish, he said the fish may be shad.
“Shad are small, thin and silvery fish that are more susceptible to low-oxygen rates,” Rutherford said.
Barbara Romanowsky, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality administrator over water quality assessment, said hot weather and shallow water conditions can decrease oxygen levels.
Romanowsky said the large Saturday rainfall may have caused pollution to pour into the lake, which likely intensified the situation.
Romanowsky said any student can request a water-quality investigation, which involves measuring oxygen levels at the bottom and surface of the water, by calling the DEQ at 219-3640.
“If they see dead fish, the best thing to do is call the hotline,” Romanowsky said.
Bordelon thinks University administrators should pay more attention to water quality.
“I think they should clean it up and take care of it a little more,” Bordelon said. “It’s right near where we live.”
 
Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]