Edmonton city council eliminates aerial mosquito control program

Edmonton city council has voted to do away with a program that aims to fight the mosquito population by air.

Edmonton city council has voted to do away with a program that aims to fight the mosquito population by air.

During a council meeting on Monday, papastew Counc. Michael Janz brought forward a motion to cease the use of the aerial mosquito control program.

Janz said at a recent committee meeting, councillors heard from a number of speakers about their concerns with the program, both from an environmental and financial perspective.

“We heard — even with this program — there were good summers and there were bad summers, depending on the weather, depending on other measures,” Janz said Monday. “What we need to do is educate Edmontonians about their individual role that their property plays in the mosquito problem.”

The aerial program uses a helicopter to drop pesticides into temporary and stagnant water bodied in control areas around Edmonton. The goal is to kill the larvae before they hatch, reducing the pesky adult biting populations.

City council decided Monday to shift away from the use of pesticides toward education and other biological interventions to help control the mosquito population. Things like bat boxes, increasing the dragonfly population and using an oscillating fan in the backyard were suggested. Edmontonians are also encouraged to remove any still, stagnant bodies of water from their properties.

The aerial mosquito program cost about $500,000 per year, which will be reinvested in biological controls.

“I’d hope that through education and through biological interventions like bat boxes — reintroducing bats, reintroducing natural predators of mosquitoes like dragon flies — hoping that this can lead to a situation where we’re not having to spend this three, four years from now,” Janz said.