Several fish found dead in the Chattahoochee River on Friday, May 22, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Jason Ulseth)
The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is reporting a major fish kill on the Chattahoochee River in west Atlanta.
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Jason Ulseth said early Friday morning he was doing a routine patrol of the river.
“And just started seeing dead fish floating by, very unusual — And then I start looking along the banks and there was just thousands of dead fish in the river for a span of well over 20 miles,” Ulseth said.
He said this started right where the Chattahoochee River meets Peachtree Creek, downstream of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area — a little south on the river from Standing Peachtree Park.
“The affected stretch would be from Peachtree Creek, 60 miles all the way down to West Point Lake,” Ulseth said.
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is investigating the fish kill. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division also says it, the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, and the City of Atlanta are “working together to access the area to investigate.”
EPD said this is an ongoing investigation, and the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management said in a press release it has deployed department personnel to assess affected areas, collect water quality samples and coordinate with environmental agencies for the investigation.
“At this time, the cause of the incident has not been confirmed, and no conclusions have been reached regarding contributing factors,” the May 22 press release said.
Ulseth reported seeing a variety of species of fish deceased in the Chattahoochee on May 22, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Jason Ulseth)
Ulseth said the cause of the fish kill could be due to a sewage overflow from the heavy rains earlier in the week.
In a press release the day after he discovered the fish kill, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper said it “understands that the City of Atlanta’s combined sewer system and West Area Tunnel overflowed into Peachtree Creek.”
The organization said this emergency overflow of untreated water mixed with the polluted stormwater in Peachtree Creek and then entered the river.
“Additionally, the West Area Tunnel treatment system began operating and discharging directly into the river,” the press release said.
Ulseth said sewage spills don’t cause fish to die because of the fecal matter getting into their gills — it’s because bacteria that’s in the river eat up all the organic material in the sewage and suck all the oxygen out of the water. Then, the fish don’t have oxygen to breathe.
He said during their investigation, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper found striped bass, spotted bass, catfish, carp, bream and shad dead in the river.
In addition, he said drought conditions have exacerbated the scenario.
“The river has been so low that there’s very little water in the river system to actually dilute it, so we had this huge flux of sewage coming in while the river itself was very low which made it significantly worse,” Ulseth said.
Ulseth said his organization sees localized fish kills every now and then, from firefighting activities to smaller sewage spills.
“But I’ve been here at Riverkeeper for 20 years, and I spend my life on the Chattahoochee River, and I’ve never seen a fish kill like this,” Ulseth said.
Upstream, from Buford Dam through the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, is unaffected by this spill, and the water quality there remains clean, according to Ulseth — an important note ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, which oversees the city’s sewage, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
