Overview
- The San Carlos Recreation and Wildlife Department closed the lake until further notice and banned fishing after saying the die-off affected about 100% of the fish population.
- Officials warned that decomposing fish may pose bacterial and odor risks and asked the public to avoid the shoreline while staff monitor conditions.
- The department has blamed the event on drought combined with water releases from Coolidge Dam, but formal ecological testing has not yet produced a single, conclusive cause.
- Local reporters posted images and video showing shorelines strewn with largemouth bass, flathead catfish, and black crappie, and agencies are documenting the extent of the loss.
- San Carlos Lake was built for irrigation in 1930 and has a long history of draining to low levels and recurring fish kills, a pattern that ties this event to broader water-management and tribal-federal governance tensions.