Two thirds of the city\u2019s mosquito-control funds have been reallocated to ground treatment, and the remainder to support mosquito predators. The city still monitors the areas it used to spray from helicopter. Mosquitoes can travel up to five kilometres if desperate, but most find someone to bite within the area they\u2019re born.<\/p>\n
What was the reasoning for the change?<\/p>\n
Mayor Andrew Knack said a significant part of the area being sprayed for $507,000 a year was outside city limits. He said other municipalities in the area weren\u2019t willing to foot the bill for the costs of the program. A co-ordinated regional spraying program existed until 1993, when then-premier Ralph Klein cut the funding. Edmonton ratepayers have footed the bill ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would use taxpayer dollars to spray for mosquitoes outside our city limits,\u201d Knack said. \u201cI was on the council that said we should stop doing that. I had a real tough time justifying why I\u2019m using City of Edmonton taxpayer dollars to provide a service outside our city limits.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther municipalities can also spray for mosquitoes in their spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concerns about killing more desirable insects like dragonflies, which also use the same standing water for their larvae, was also factor in the change.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/531450b47a8f7e5ec6799842489cb531.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
A comparison of where the city used to do aerial spraying for mosquitoes (left) to what is says is its current zone of pest control (right.) Astute readers may notice the two areas are pretty much the same \u2014 that\u2019s because the city still monitors the areas it used to spray from the air.<\/p>\n
What are the risks of mosquito bites?<\/p>\n
West Nile virus has been detected in Alberta \u2014 people over the age of 50 are at the biggest risk of complications, though statistically 80 per cent of people infected with it don\u2019t develop symptoms.<\/p>\n
What can you do to discourage the mosquito menace?<\/p>\n
Carrying a portable fan is a solid defence as they can\u2019t bite you if they can\u2019t land. Clearing eavestroughs and making sure any containers on your property are free of water can reduce their breeding pools, but officials note there\u2019s standing water everywhere, so bites are inevitable.<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t worry \u2014 winter will be back soon enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only a short period of time,\u201d said Ward Sspomitapi Coun. Jo-Anne Wright. \u201cThere\u2019s sprays and other ways you can easily defend yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go for a walk with my husband and they all seem to get him.\u201d<\/p>\n
ebowling@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add EdmontonJournal.com<\/a> and EdmontonSun.com<\/a> to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.<\/a><\/p>\n You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal<\/a> | The Edmonton Sun.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After several years of drought, Edmonton has been thrown a weather boomerang with record-setting rainfall, making this past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,276334,23752,110696,274484],"class_list":["post-780482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-city-limits","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-city-council","tag-standing-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}