Brisbane lake fish kill blamed on drought

A mass fish kill at a popular westside lake this morning is due to drought, followed two recent violent storms, council says.

Workers at Biami Yumba lake in Brisbane's inner-west cleaning up the scum and dead fish.

A mass fish kill at a scenic lake in a Brisbane park on Wednesday morning is most likely due to an algal bloom sparked by two storms last week.

About 200 large tilapia, an invasive species, were found floating on Biami Yumba lake in Fig Tree Pocket.

Residents had noticed a foul odour in recent days from the lake, which almost dried up due to the drought.

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The incident has triggered concerns other small lakes around Brisbane could be hit by algal blooms as well this summer.

Councillor James Mackay (Walter Taylor), who visited the site today, said Council officers were on the scene within two hours and began suctioning out sludge and dead fish.

“The early view is there was a spike in nutrients after the storms which most likely turned the water anaerobic (lacking in oxygen),’’ Cr Mackay said.

“Queensland Urban Utilities has also been out there doing water testing.

“There was a large vacuum sucking up scum and fish. I’m really pleased Council officers were able to respond so quickly.’’

Children walking over the dry lake bed at Biami Yumba before rain partially filled it.

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Workers roll out a suction device to clean up scum and dead fish.

Mandalay Progress Association president Simon Leister said they advised Council of the fish kill earlier today.

“The lake is in the middle of a park (so there is limited run-off),’’ Mr Leister said.

“It almost went dry as we had no rain for many months. You could walk right around it.

“To be honest, I was amazed there were still so many fish in it.

“I spoke to one resident who has lived in the area for 40 years and they’ve never seen the lake so low.

“When it rained in the big storms last week a horrible smell developed.’’