Although the north end of Yellow Lake looks similar to thick glass of chocolate milk after a massive mudslide almost two weeks ago, experts say the mud won’t make a major impact on aquatic life.
A mudslide on Fri., April 13 brought more than three-Olympic size pools worth of mud and debris into the lake.
Related: Young woman jumps into action to help others at Yellow Lake mudslide
Once the road was opened last week, motorists might have noticed portions of the lake were quite dark brown in colour, but Kyle Girgan, of Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. said there’s several reasons for that.
“Obviously fish are not going to do very well if they are swimming around in mud, but I know that the lake is relatively deep and quite a large size and that the slide happened in specific area and came down across the highway and went straight into the water so it should be having a major impact.”
Girgan said what’s probably having a bigger impact on the colour of the lake at this time is lake turnover, which occurs right after the ice comes off.
“When ice is on there is a layer of water between the ice and the water and that layer is not oxygenated. When the ice comes off and the wind comes up it stirs the water and makes it look quite muddy as it all mixes together,” he said.
Girgan, who is the hatchery manager in Summerland, said the mud could cause some issues for spawning if that is an area where fish go to lay their eggs or an area where eggs had already been laid.
“If they’ve already been laid, which is highly unlikely, they won’t mature with a layer of mud on them like that,” he said.
When asked if the koi and goldfish that live in the lake would be negatively impacted, Girgan laughed and said, “That would be great because they are an invasive species and are quite destructive, but they’re also a very tough fish, so I don’t think there will be any negative impact on them.”
Girgan said the mud wouldn’t have impact on the 25,000 (15,000 Rainbow Trout and 10,000 Eastern Brook Char) fish fry that are set to be released in the lake May 9.
“I don’t think the mudslide is going to make much difference to them,” he said. “Fish can move. If there is an area they are uncomfortable in they will move to another area of the lake.”
The mudslide caused Highway 3A to be closed for several days while provincial crews worked to cleanup the mess. As of Tuesday afternoon the highway was open to alternating traffic but a large portion of the east lane, on the edge of the lake, was eroded during the slide. It’s unknown when the highway will be reopened as a two-lane highway in that portion.