HomeMy WebLinkAbout5A - 2007/2008 Nuisance Mosquito Control Piolat ProjectCITY OF BOULDER
PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEM
MEETING DATE: January 29, 2007
AGENDA TI1'LE: 2007/2008 Nuisance Mosquito Control Pilot Project
PRESENTERS: Jonathan Koehn, Environmental Affairs Manager
Kathleen Alexander, IPM Coordinator
EXECUTIVE SUNIMARY
Prior to the 2003 West Nile Virus (WNV) outbreak in Colorado, the city of Boulder did
not control mosquitoes. The city's policy was that the nuisance created by mosquitoes
was not significant enough to warrant pesticide application. Although the city had not
been controlling mosquitoes on its lands, Boulder County had been controlling
mosquitoes on unincorporated county lands and vazious other lands not owned by the city
since 1995. These control efforts aze administered by the Boulder County Public Health
department (BCPH) and aze designated as the Boulder County Mosquito Control District.
The county's control program has historically fowsed on controlling nuisance
mosquitoes and activities including control of both larval and adult mosquitoes.
In the spring of 2003, the city of Boulder adopted a mosquito control program in
anticipation of the impending public health threat of the mosquito borne WNV. The goal
of the program was to reduce the risk of human infection while minimizing
environmental impacts. This program, however, controls only the species of mosquitoes
that aze known to transmit the disease to humans (vector species) and bypasses habitats
that only contain species that were a nuisance to people (nuisance or non-vector species.)
While the results of the program from 2003 thru 2006 suggests that the city's program
has been highly effective at protecting the public against the threat of WNV, there has
been growing concern among several groups that some limited larval control should be
done for nuisance mosquitoes. •
1) The Boulder County Commissioners and Boulder County Public Health have formally
requested the City of Boulder do larval nuisance control to reduce their level of pesticide
spraying on county lands adjacent to city lands with nuisance problems. The county
currently performs adult mosquito spraying with a pyrethroid. Pyrethroids, and the
synergist piperonyl butoxide (PBO), per the City of Boulder's IPM policy, are less
acceptable than Bti treatments (larval control) due to their increased ecological impacts.
The applications of pyrethroids aze done by a truck mounted fogger, specifically designed
to increase product drift.
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2) The City's Parks and Recreation Department (P&R) revenue-generating recreation
facilities within or near mosquito habitat aze realizing decreased revenues due to
decreasing attendance and complaints from patrons (e.g., Flatirons Golf Course, Gerald
Stazio Ballfields.)
3) Both city and county residents near the nuisance mosquito habitat azeas want more
control of nuisance mosquitoes as the number of mosquitoes are well above their
tolerance levels (specifically the Reserve, Gaptor Road and Greenbelt Meadows
neighborhoods.)
The 2006 mosquito season brought this issue to a head, as conditions were met to
produce very high numbers of mosquitoes in some of these problem areas. The 12,529
adult mosquitoes caught in city traps in the first three weeks of the 2006 season exceeded
the 10,577 caught during the entire 2005 season. In May/June of 2006, city staff within
OEA, P&R, OSMP and CMO as well as City Council received hundreds of complaints
about mosquitoes from softball players at Stazio Ballfields, golfers at Flatirons Golf
Course and from city and county residents living adjacent to several OSMP properties.
The Office of Environmental Affairs (OEA), in collaboration with staff from OSMP,
P&R, Utilities and the Boulder County Public Health Department, has developed a plan
for a two yeaz "Nuisance Mosquito Pilot ProjecY'. The proposed project is an attempt to
follow the City of Boulder IPM Policy/ procedures and to balance the needs of multiple
departments, the county, and residents while minimizing environmental impacts.
BACKGROUND
For the past several yeazs, P&R staff has attempted to control the mosquitoes through
mechanical and cultural means without success. Despite these actions, customers
remained agitated and frustrated about the lazge number of mosquitoes. The primary
concerns aze based upon their negative experience as customers who pay a premium fee
to participate in recreation programs.
The situation is somewhat unique as it directly, physically affects a lazge number of users
who are paying a fee to pacticipate in programs at recreation facilities. As the recreation
division of the P&R Department is a business operation with relevant demands,
this circumstance is costly from both a customer service and revenues perspectives. The
ability of community members to participate in active recreation at these specialized
facilities is being impacted by the current circumstances.
Recreation staff received over 200 mosquito complaints the first two week's of June,
2006, and many golfers demanded a full refund. Staff estimates that Flatirons Golf
Course had a direct revenue loss of $27,000 as a direct result of mosquito activity in
2006. They expect that unless the mosquito problem is handled differently, the 2007
revenues will also be impacted negatively due to reduced return league play and "bad
memories."
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At Stazio Ballfields, staff reported getting approximately 250 complaints per night from
the 500 plus softball players present each evening. There were no direct revenue impacts
for Stazio in 2006, but 10 percent of the softball teams threatened to leave in 2007 if the
issue was not addressed. If 10 percent of teams moved to other programs (Westminster,
Broomfield, Superior, Longmont, Lafayette and Louisville) for 2007, P&R could stand to
lose approximately $30,000.
COUNCIL FILTER IMPACTS
Economic:
The current West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Plan (WNV MMP) does not have
provisions for control of nuisance mosquitoes. Complaints about nuisance mosquitoes at
Parks and Recreauon Department revenue generating facilities (e.g., Fladrons Golf
course, Gerald Stazio Ballfields) are not new. The very high nuisance mosquito numbers
in 2006 however, brought this issue to head, and as a result several of these revenue-
generating azeas of the city within or near mosquito habitat realized severely decreased
revenues due to reduced attendance and complaints from patrons.
SociaL•
City staff only uses pesticides as a last resort; over the past several yeazs many filters
have been established to ensure that environmental and human safety issues aze addressed
during the decision making process. While data suggests that the city's WNV MMP has
been highly effecuve at protecting the public against the threat of WNV, there has been
growing concern among several groups that some limited larval control should be done
for nuisance mosquitoes as stated above, including Boulder County Public Health and the
Boulder County Commissioners, City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department as
well as the city and county residents neaz the nuisance mosquito habitats.
Environmental:
There is concern over the spraying done by Boulder County for adul[ mosquitoes in
county neighborhoods adjacent to city limits. The county currently performs adult
mosquito spraying with a pyrethroid; pyrethroids, and the synergist piperonyl butoxide
(PBO), per the City of Boulder's IPM policy, aze less acceptable than Bti treaunents due
to their increased ecological impacts.
While the introduction of Bti into aquatic ecosystems will potentially have an effect on
the aquatic food chain by removing the mosquito larvae as a food source, there is a
concern that the introduction of pyrethroids into neighborhood adjacent to City open
space may be more impactful as the pyrethroid and the PBO aze designed to kill a greater
vaziety of species. An important component of the pilot project is to perform targeted
water testing to determine the effects of Bti and pyrethroid.
CURRENT STATUS AND NEXT STEPS
Components of the proposed pilot project include:
1. Larval control for nuisance mosquitoes using Bti on several key OSMP and P&R
properties in the "hot spoY' azeas within the city. These include: Sombrero Marsh, Burke
II, Gerald Stazio Ballfields, Flatirons Golf Course, Pleasantview Soccer Fields, Boulder
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Reservoir, Valmont Park, Christensen Park, East Boulder Communiry Center and the
Kentucky Property.
2. Develop additional monitoring protocols for the remaining WNV larval sites to more
accurately pinpoint those areas producing the most nuisance mosquitoes to aid in future
decisions about nuisance control.
3. Water quality testing to deternune the potential impacts of the county adult mosquito
spray events to city owned wetland azeas.
4. Establishment of a"mosquito working group" involving staff from OEA, OSMP,
P&R, Boulder County Public Health and the city mosquito control contractor. The group
will develop best management practices (BMPs) for nuisance mosquitoes per the city
IPM process and will look at the management of specific city properties to ensure all
cultural and mechanical controls for mosquitoes aze being done within the confines of
management priorities.
One major component of the pilot project is the cooperation with Boulder County. As
stated above, a predominant objective for doing larval control is to reduce the potential
for pyrethroids to drift onto city property from county adult mosquito spray events. The
Boulder County commissioners recenfly agreed to raise the thresholds that uigger an
adult spray event surrounding the project area. They will also designate the neighborhood
adjacent to Sombrero Mazsh as a tazgeted hot spot where county efforts (i.e. identify
potential breeding sites on private property, increase education/outreact~ will be focused
with the goal of reducing mosquito populations.
The city's Planning Depar[ment will bring a request for a special ordinance to City
Council this March to establish the nuisance mosquito control pilot project and allow for
Bti appiications on a limited number of city designated wedand azeas starting in April
2007. Staff is presenting ttus issue to the Planning Board, Parks and Recreation Advisory
Board, Environmental Advisory Boazd and the Open Space Boazd of Trustees for their
consideration prior to the council meeting.
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