About 1,000 fish turn up dead at Wyndham Lake

UPDATED: JULY 11, 11:20 A.M. – About 1,000 fish turned up dead during the weekend at Wyndham Lake at The Dominion Club – likely killed by low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, according to state officials.

It happened in the 17-acre body of water located directly behind the clubhouse, according to TDC General Manager Dan Riker. On Sunday, a citizen saw about 100 dead fish and reported the finding to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which sent a Pollution Response team to meet Henrico County HAZMAT officials at the lake, DEQ spokesperson Irina Carlos told the Citizen.

"The officials found about 1,000 dead fish and found that the lake had very low dissolved oxygen," Carlos said.

In a statement to club members, Riker had suggested that low dissolved oxygen is the most common cause of fish kill incidents in ponds, possibly prompted by factors such as high water temperatures, excessive algae, drought conditions or prolonged cloudy weather.

Excess herbicides or chemicals running off into the water also could have been responsible, Riker wrote, but he added that the turf agronomical best practices at the club haven’t changed at all this season.

It’s the second fish kill incident at the site in the past five years, Riker said.

Low levels of dissolved oxygen in water make it difficult or impossible for certain aquatic organisms to survive, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, a scientific agency of the federal government. Generally, water that moves rapidly has high levels of dissolved water, while water that is stagnant has lower levels.

“We know this is a very unfortunate situation,” Riker wrote. “We also know that one of the biggest and most natural ways to prevent fish kills is to have a large fountain that assists with water circulation/aeration. Our large fountain that operates daily from 9 am - 9 pm has been in operation since 2017. As of today, we will operate our large fountain to run constantly (24/7) for the foreseeable future.”

Fish kills often occur during the summer months in stagnant water that has rotting organic material, according to the USGS.

"Water near the surface of the lake – the epilimnion – is too warm for them, while water near the bottom – the hypolimnion – has too little oxygen. Conditions may become especially serious during a period of hot, calm weather, resulting in the loss of many fish," according to a USGS explanation.

Dissolved oxygen levels should be between 6.5 and 8 milligrams per liter to be considered safe for aquatic life, according to most scientific research. Once they fall below 5 mg/L, aquatic life is put under extreme stress – and if levels fall below 2 mg/L, the water becomes "hypoxic" and kills most aquatic life that can't escape, according to the USGS.

"Our staff observed low water levels with no water flowing into or leaving the lake, and still water typically has less dissolved oxygen than water that is circulating," Carlos told the Citizen. "The water temperature was almost 80 degrees, and warm water is not able to hold as much dissolved oxygen as cooler water is. There was no indication of algae blooms, illicit dumping, or other spills into the lake."

TDC officials are having discussions with lake maintenance contractors to determine any new preventive options that could be implemented, Riker wrote to members. DEQ officials advised that the club contact a private lake management company for mitigation recommendations, Carlos said.

The Dominion Club is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.