That droning noise might be mosquitoes’ new nemesis

It’s been a relatively dry winter, but with spring’s arrival there’s a chance that any precipitation may accumulate in pools across Carson Valley.

And standing water offers mosquitoes a place to breed.

With the opening of irrigation season on April 1, the Douglas County Mosquito Abatement District will be using a new weapon in its fight against the blood-sucking scourge.

On Nevada Day 2020, the district’s board and staff gathered at Heybourne Meadows Recreation Pond in Gardnerville watch a new drone go through its paces.

The drone, dubbed Lary, was purchased last year after a four-year process, District Manager Krista Jenkins said.

The drone will help reduce the cost for treating areas that previously either required a biplane at $740 an hour or a helicopter, which costs $1,500 an hour not counting the ferry fee.

Jenkins said the drone can carry a 25-pound payload and can treat five acres at 5 pounds of larvicide an acre in 2 minutes, 31 seconds.

The drone won’t be able to replace the aircraft, but it will help reduce the cost of treating areas.

According to Jenkins, the drone is programmed for an area using a computer tablet and once it’s loaded and gets its bearings, it will go to work.

“At that point it’s all automated,” she said.

Should the drone develop a problem, it will stop and wait for instructions and the pilot can either try to override the problem or bring it home.

The drone pilot is licensed and the district has a certificate of authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate the device.

Long before anyone had heard of the coronavirus, the district was battling West Nile virus.

A dead crow found in the summer of 2004 was quickly followed by a passel of magpies, which had succumbed to the virus.

In 2005, the first human case of West Nile was diagnosed.

Under its enabling ordinance the district only covers Carson Valley, but since 2005, the county has expanded its contract to include both Lake Tahoe and Topaz Lake.

The district was founded in 1969. It has its own elected board and taxing authority.