PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Dead fish were floating on top of the water at the Sawgrass Lakes community on Thursday in Port St. Lucie, after an algae treatment earlier in the week.
Neighbors reached out to WPTV, sharing video they took of dead fish they found in their backyards Thursday morning.
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"There were hundreds and hundreds of fish here, hundreds and hundreds of those little ones just gulping the air,” said neighbor Jim Herbert.
"I don't think this is an overnight fix,” said neighbor Jerry Cook. “I don't think it's a couple months fix. I think it's a few years fix."
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the city hired a vendor — SOLitude — to treat the water for toxic algae.
Experts tell WPTV, with high heat and algae treatment, the water can become uninhabitable for aquatic life.
On Thursday, crews were in the neighborhood removing the dead fish and testing the oxygen levels in the water.
"This is at least the second time since I’ve lived here that we've had a fish die-off,” said Herbert.
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WPTV asked the city if there's other ways to treat the water.
Scott Samples with the city of Port St. Lucie, said they’ve been working with neighbors and other cities and counties to find solutions.
"We're hoping that there might be a couple of options soon,” said Samples. “But those are sort of dependent on a couple of things, and so we have not been able to do that yet."
WPTV reached out to Jim Moir, executive director of the Indian Riverkeeper, who said the city should look at more natural solutions, like planting aquatic vegetation, reducing the use of fertilizer and removing sediment that can fuel algae growth.
"We're going to end up in a cycle that we can't break unless we go back to square one and start with a natural remediation," said Moir.
