Winnipeg, MB - Today the City of Winnipeg’s Insect Control Branch unveiled its latest weapon in the fight against mosquitoes. The Standing Water Action Team (S.W.A.T.) wants you to become one of their agents, dedicated to the removal of standing water that accumulates on private property.
“Standing water is the ideal environment for the development of Winnipeg’s mosquito larvae and a single birdbath filled with standing water can generate as many as 1,000 adult nuisance mosquitoes,” said Ken Nawolsky, superintendent of insect control. “Fifty per cent of Winnipeg’s mosquito population comes from standing water on private property, so everyone needs to do their part.”
As an agent of S.W.A.T., your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to fight mosquitoes before they hatch by actively draining, dumping or covering water-filled containers such as buckets, rain barrels, birdbaths and eavestroughs in the springtime, and after a rainfall to reduce mosquito populations.
“By encouraging homeowners to drain, dump or cover standing water in their yard from May until August, all Winnipeggers will benefit by reducing the overall adult mosquito population,” stated Nawolsky. “We can make a genuine difference.”
For more information, please visit winnipeg.ca/agentsofswat