Why are there dead fish and murky water at this lake?

City workers are cleaning up mud and other debris from the Boys Ranch Lake after a water main broke Tuesday night.

Kenny Overstreet, Bedford’s director of public works, said the main broke between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Tuesday on Danielle Drive, sending water, mud and other debris into the storm drain that empties into the lake.

The debris and chlorinated water led to reduced oxygen levels, and Overstreet estimated that around 200 perch and tadpoles died.

Bedford reported the dead fish to the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife and reported the incident to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Overstreet said.

Bedford is using pumps to aerate the water, and oxygen levels are coming up, he said.

“It’s like getting a gulleywasher. It pushes so much through the storm drain,” he said.

This story was originally published July 25, 2018 at 6:28 PM.