Sinkhole drains Benton Park Lake, leaving fish stranded

ST. LOUIS – The fish are gone, and a sinkhole is being blamed for the empty Benton Park Lake. Where did the water go, and the fish that swam in it? The City of St. Louis and the Missouri Department of Conservation are working together to sort it all out.

“Benton Park Lake, unfortunately, has an issue with a cave nearby, which is a sinkhole that is drawing water out of the lake,” Dan Zarlenga, Missouri Department of Conservation, said. “It’s hard to keep water in the lake. As long as this issue happens, it’s hard to keep water in the lake and fish in the water, because the fish need the water.”

Zarlenga says the conservation department issued a fish salvage order.

“Which means, we’re basically suspending all fishing regulations on that particular lake in order to get the fish removed before the water was completely drained,” he said.

St. Louis and the Missouri Department of Conservation work together on the city’s urban lakes, stocking them with channel catfish, hybrid sunfish, and trout.

While you need a fishing license to fish at the lakes, rules on the number of fish and ways you could catch them were suspended for Benton Park Lake. Meaning, a lot of fish wound up on dinner plates.

It’s unclear how long the lake will be drained and when the fish will return to this lake.

“There’s a lot of caves in St. Louis and Missouri,” Zarlenga said. “So, it’s a unique topography that we have in this state that provides us with some great resources. But occasionally, that can also provide us with some sinkholes as well.”