It is not a question of if mosquito season will arrive in Winnipeg, but when, and how bad it will be.
Each year the City of Winnipeg works to deal with the airborne menace. The insect control program gets underway this week with aggressive larviciding using four helicopters.
“Although the spring temperatures have been below normal until mid-April, the return to more seasonable temperatures has triggered the hatch of the spring species of mosquitoes in the water,” Ken Nawolsky, superintendent of insect control said.
“If weather conditions continue to remain dry, a normal spring larviciding program is anticipated.”
The city announced earlier this month the area to be treated with larvicide would be smaller this year as a result of what they called a ‘reduction in provincial funding’.
The mosquito treatment district was reduced from 10 km to 8 km from the City limits.
East St. Paul is the only exception. It will have an additional buffer because they were the only rural municipality who agreed to increase their funding contribution to the larviciding program.
The annual insect control plan includes environmentally sensitive initiatives as well as monitoring and fogging as needed.
City officials said residents can take their own preventative actions to control mosquito outbreaks:
- Dump It! – containers
- Drain It! – eavestroughing or unused containers
- Cover It! – rain water collection containers
- Fill It! – low-lying areas
- Treat It! – biological larvicide
Detailed information on the insect control program is available on the city’s website.