In recent weeks, several visitors to Carrie Blake Community Park reported multiple dead fish were found in and around the pond at the Water Reuse Demonstration Site.

City of Sequim staff report there’s nothing wrong with the water. Pete Tjemsland, the city of Sequim’s utilities manager, said the reclaimed water is tested daily and it’s fine.

A few times years prior, summer heat waves caused some rainbow trout to die because of rising temperatures in the pond.

Tjemsland said multiple factors could have contributed to the recent dead fish, such as people catching and leaving the fish behind. The fishes’ age may also be a factor, he said, as the pond is not very deep with little room for hundreds of fish to grow and roam.

Wintering water fowl could also be contributors, Tjemsland said, as they flock to the open fields and water areas leaving messes.

“If people stop feeding the ducks, we wouldn’t have as much of a problem,” he said.

Previous city administration said the pond was designed as irrigation water storage and not with fish in mind.

How many fish are in the pond is unknown, Tjemsland said, but city staff removed less than 20 dead fish along the shore in the past week.

Dave Croonquist, a board member of the The Puget Sound Anglers-North Olympic Peninsula Chapter, said they had more trout placed in the pond in recent weeks.

The club, who hosted the annual Kids Fishing Day in the park prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, partners with the city to offer free fishing for children, and with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Hurd Creek Hatchery to raise thousands of trout for the pond.

Croonquist said they’re not planning to put more trout into the pond until early-to-mid-spring when water fowl leave the area.

With the pond’s depth continuing to be a problem, Croonquist said club members and city staff continue to pursue funding options to increase the pond’s size and depth for water storage.

Hosting another Kids Fishing Day, Croonquist said, will depend on the pandemic, but group members will let locals know when the pond will be stocked in the spring.

Children 14 and younger are allowed to fish for free and without a license in the park, according to the city’s Municipal Code, and each child is limited to keeping the first two fish they catch.

For more about the anglers group, visit psanopc.org and facebook.com/psanopc.