WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — Residents living around Oak Forest Lake in Winter Springs are searching for answers after a recent fish kill left dead fish floating along the shoreline.
What You Need To Know
Residents say thousands of fish died at Oak Forest Lake last month during a routine treatment
City officials say low oxygen levels, weather changes, runoff or other factors may have contributed
Winter Springs installed a pump to restore oxygen and stabilize water quality
The lake management company is expected to restock the lake but did not respond to requests for comment
The sudden die-off happened last month and raised concerns about water quality and whether a routine lake treatment may have played a role.
Officials say changing weather conditions, runoff and low oxygen levels are all possible factors.
Greg Seidule, who has lived on the lake with his wife since the 1980s, said the scene was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
“When the fish died, there were thousands of them. And there were bass. There were carp. There were catfish. There were crappie. There were bluegill and millions of minnows,” Seidule said.
Seidule believes low water levels made conditions worse while the lake was being treated.
“Treatment company came in and treated like they normally do, but they over-treated with chemicals. It was too much for the small amount of water, killed the oxygen, thus killed thousands of fish,” he said.
Winter Springs Commissioner Mark Caruso said residents quickly contacted him about the problem, and he was stunned by the scale of the die-off.
“I know they took at least 20 garbage bag contractor bags full of fish, at least that I’ve seen,” Caruso said.
The city says it is contracted to maintain 116 lakes and ponds, including Oak Forest Lake, spending about $5,500 a month to keep those water bodies healthy.
Caruso said the city and the treatment company are now working to address the damage.
“No, I don’t know if they messed up, per se, but they are taking drastic actions right now, along with the city, to try to make it right. Fix it,” he said.
That fix includes installing a pump to restore oxygen levels and stabilize water quality so the lake can recover.
Caruso said fish were likely starved for oxygen.
“And what I was told also is that little aerator over there, all the fish were kind of schooling around it and staying there because they were trying to get air, and that was creating oxygen for them,” Caruso said.
Oak Forest Lake is surrounded by more than 20 homes. The city considers it a hybrid water body, meaning it sits on private property but receives runoff from public infrastructure such as city roads.
Caruso said he does not know whether low water levels or chemicals played a role in the fish kill but noted lake levels can be managed.
“And during a storm, it’s meant to be able to drain it,” he said.
Water from the lake drains under a nearby street and into another pond. The lake management company is expected to restock the lake once conditions improve.
For Seidule, the hope is simple: to see the lake full of life again.
“There’s never been a fish kill here since… I moved in in ’84,” he said.
Spectrum News 13 reached out to Solitude Lake Management, the company that treated Oak Forest Lake, but have yet to hear back.