Residents Stuck With Hundreds of Fish Dead in Weatherford Pond

Residents in the Horseshoe Lake neighborhood in Weatherford are wondering what to do about hundreds of dead fish found floating in a neighborhood pond.[[438582503,R]]

Karla Derington told NBC 5 she went out to the pond by her home on Thursday and saw the fish — all of them dead.

"I was like what happened? This is horrible," she said. "You could not see the lake because of dead carcasses everywhere."

Derington said she's lived near the body of water for the last 25 years and has never seen anything like it.

"How can that many fish die at one time for no reason," she wondered.

The United States Geological Survey said many fish kills in the summer, though not all, are the result from low concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the water, since warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cold water.

During warm summer nights during algal blooms, the dissolved oxygen concentration can sometimes drop too low for fish — which then suffocate and die.

The USGS also said fish kills can happen naturally or because of human activity in water that can result in added nutrients, nitrogen or phosphorus to bodies of water.

Since the neighborhood is managed by an HOA, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said it's up to the HOA to clean up the mess. The HOA said they don't have the money to fund the clean-up.

NBC 5 asked HOA President Harold Odell, who said he'd just returned from out of town, to go to the pond to see the fish kill for himself.

"This is unbelievable," he said, looking around.

When asked what the association was going to do about the mess, Odell replied: "Whatever we can with the limited funds we have."

He says the HOA is barely getting by.

"Of the people who are around this like, there may be three residents that pay dues," he said.

"My response to that is what about the people that do pay their dues, myself included," said lakefront resident Jerry Meeuwse.

Odell added that the HOA will start making calls to try and figure out what can be done and for how much.

He said it's possible this fish kill could mean the end of the HOA.

For now, Weatherford residents are left with unanswered questions and a strong stench from the dead fish.

NBC 5's Maria Guerrero contributed to this story.