By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
As citizens in Barton County continue to swat mosquitos off their arms and legs, local municipalities are making an effort to take action to combat the insects. The heavy rains earlier this month helped create a mosquito frenzy that city crews are trying to deal with in a timely manner.
In Great Bend,
Public Works Director Jason Cauley said the city still has plans to spray once
a week, including this Thursday.
"We're currently using two different chemicals, so I believe we can go a bit longer," said Cauley. "We're using one chemical that kills the mosquitos and one that sterilizes. One side of town gets the sterilizing chemical and the other gets the one that kills. The next week we switch them."
The City of Hoisington announced that crews will spray three times this week.
Great Bend Mayor Cody Schmidt, Director of Grounds for the Great Bend school district, said mosquitos are resilient making the process
to reduce the insects’ population challenging.
"I'm spraying ballfields for practices, and what I'm learning from the experts is that you don't spray everyday and you switch chemicals because they get immune to it," said Schmidt. "It is a constant fight. I actually learned this week that you can put too much chemical in a tank and it defeats the whole purpose."
The City of Great Bend has also released helpful tips on social media to protect citizens from
mosquitos. Those tips include removing standing water, tightly cover water
storage containers or rain barrels, repair cracks or gaps near your septic
tank, wear and reapply repellent, wear long sleeves and pants and limit times
outside at dusk and dawn.