High water levels not expected to impact fish

After months of low levels, many of Iowa’s lakes and rivers have had higher flows from the wet spring. Iowa Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Martin Conrad says that won’t be a problem for the fish. He says it’s not bad for the fish, but probably bad for the fisherman, as the high water makes it hard to boat and fish. Conrad says all the water will be good especially if it does get drier in July.He says the rivers are fed by surface water and ground water, and in the last several years the flows have been very low. He says this year the ground water has been recharged. While heavy rains can wash pollutants into the water, he says the large amount of water dilutes those same pollutants. He says non-point source pollution, or sources they can’t trace back to one point, get diluted. Conrad says there are some variations in the lakes and rivers with the wet and dry years, but he says ongoing efforts to improve the water are the most important. He says the key to a good healthy fish population is water quality, and he says we have that in Iowa.