Residents in Kamloops and communities along the North Thompson River can expect to see low-flying helicopters treating mosquito breeding areas beginning Friday, May 15, weather permitting, as the Thompson-Nicola Regional District ramps up its annual nuisance mosquito reduction program.
According to the TNRD, aerial larvicide applications are scheduled for Friday, May 15 near Kamloops Airport and Mission Flats. Additional treatments are planned for Saturday, May 16 and, if necessary, Sunday, May 17 in Barriere, McLure, Darfield, Blackpool, East Blackpool and Clearwater.
The work targets mosquito larvae before they emerge as biting adults, according to mosquito control contractor Cheryl Phippen of Setetkwe Environmental Inc.
“It kills mosquitoes that are on their way,” Phippen said in an interview. “Any that are out right now, we don’t have any effect on them. Those are adult mosquitoes.”
The treatments involve a helicopter carrying a large bucket-style spreader beneath the aircraft. The product being applied, Vectobac 200G, is a biological larvicide made from a naturally occurring bacterium known as Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis.
Phippen described the product as “certified for organic gardening” and said it is attached to granulated corn cob material that “kind of looks like chicken food.”
Crews are targeting shallow standing water where mosquito larvae are known to develop, including areas near Kamloops Airport, along Mission Flats Road and near the wastewater treatment plant. Depending on larval development, additional treatments could also take place around Oak Hills, The Dunes Golf Course, Noble Creek and McLure.
The TNRD said the product is not harmful to humans, livestock, fish or most other insects. Treatment zones are carefully selected to avoid fish-bearing waterways, including the Thompson and North Thompson rivers.
“There is no health concern for humans or frogs or dogs or anything else other than those mosquitoes,” Phippen said. “So it’s very specific.”
The mosquito control program is intended to reduce nuisance levels rather than eliminate mosquitoes entirely.
“We’re never going to eradicate them,” Phippen said. “We just try to get them to a tolerable level.”
Recent weather conditions have accelerated mosquito habitat formation across the region. Phippen said a combination of hot temperatures followed by significant rainfall caused rivers to rise quickly, flooding shoreline areas where dormant mosquito eggs hatch once submerged.
“The mosquito larvae that are in the water have laid their eggs in the soil up to 30 years ago waiting for a flood,” she explained.
According to Phippen, the recent rain-on-snow event likely pushed river levels toward what could be the final seasonal peak, which would help limit future mosquito hatches once water levels begin to recede.
The TNRD’s nuisance mosquito reduction program has operated since 1971 and now focuses primarily on environmentally targeted larval control instead of spraying adult mosquitoes. The program serves multiple municipalities and electoral areas across the region, including Kamloops, Barriere, Clearwater, Chase, Logan Lake and Sun Peaks.
Despite the treatments, residents should still prepare for mosquito activity later this month and into June.
“We would expect that the highest numbers of adults will be starting the end of this month and possibly through June,” Phippen said, recommending residents use Health Canada-approved insect repellents containing DEET or Icaridin when outdoors during the evening hours.
More information about the mosquito control program is available through the TNRD.
