City crews in Portage la Prairie are keeping a close eye on mosquito populations following recent rainfall, but so far, there’s no reason to worry.
Paul Ziesmann, Superintendent of Public Works, says the city hasn’t seen a major spike in mosquito counts yet.
“We are at about 50 percent of the threshold that is required for female mosquitoes in order to be spraying,” Ziesmann notes. “We are still quite a ways away.”
Monitoring now happening every day
Earlier in the season, mosquito traps were being checked every couple of days. That’s changed in recent weeks as the city ramps up its efforts.
“We are now monitoring daily,” Ziesmann adds. “We haven't seen any substantial increases as of yet, but it is something that we're aware of and something that we're looking for.”
The city operates four different traps across Portage; two in southern areas, one near the city’s centre-north, and another on the northwest end near the public works shop.
Drier summer helping keep numbers down
While Ziesmann is new to the role and can’t compare this year directly to others, he says the weather has definitely played a role.
“We are in a bit of an anomaly year,” he continues. “We would normally have quite a bit more precipitation, and it is that precipitation and standing water that has kind of been grounds for mosquito breeding.”
With fewer ideal breeding conditions, the mosquito numbers have remained low. Still, Ziesmann says the team is prepared in case things change.
What happens if spraying is needed?
If mosquito counts do rise, the city has a clear plan in place.
“The first thing that needs to happen is we need that female mosquito count to meet a threshold of 50 mosquitoes for two days in a row,” Ziesmann explains.
Even then, conditions have to line up just right before any action is taken.
“We need to have light wind conditions, no rain, those types of things in order for us to get those sprayers out,” he mentions.
As of now, the city remains well below the threshold for control measures, but monitoring will continue daily through the rest of the summer.
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