1. Monsoon Storms Bring More Breeding Habitat For Mosquitoes Across Arizona. After the much-needed monsoon showers and enjoyable cooler weather, there is a potential for an increase in undesirable pests.
Maricopa County Vector Control is expecting the mosquito population to grow after the serious storms blanketed rain across most of the Valley last week.
Vector Control, which is within the Environmental Services Department, sets 823 traps around the Valley each week, to monitor for mosquitoes and know where the problem areas exist. “Usually the east side, Gilbert, Chandler area has the majority of mosquito issues that we find but this rain–I think pretty much the whole county got rain this time so we’re expecting to see problems throughout the county,” said James Will, the managing supervisor of Vector Control.
Will says for the last two years, the “nonsoon” reduced the mosquito population in the valley. “Where we used to see three, four hundred mosquitos and we’d have a positive sample, now we have four, five mosquitoes in a positive sample, so the numbers have gone way down,” Will explained.
With the floodwaters from the recent rainstorms, Vector Control anticipates a drastic increase in mosquitoes that specifically breed in floodwaters. “They’ll come out in the thousands and thousands as they hatch, but we’re not worried about disease with them, but they’re a nuisance and they’re really ferocious biters,” Will said.
The other worrisome mosquitoes are the culex mosquitoes. They tend to bite at night time and carry diseases.
The third concerned type is aedes aegypti mosquitoes that breed in containers in people’s backyards. With all this rain, containers sitting around fill up with water and there will be an increase in those types as well.
There is something in excess of 40 different species of these insects in the state and most of them are not likely to be a concern for residents. However, there are several local varieties that could transmit serious diseases.
The key species of mosquitoes in Arizona are:
Western encephalitis mosquito, Culex tarsalis
Southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus
Yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti
Western malaria mosquito, Anopheles hermsi
Inland floodwater mosquito, Aedes vexans
Dark rice field mosquito, Psorophora columbiae
Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albipictus
It is recommended that residents with containers that contain standing water surrounding their yard should empty containers at least once a week. The containers should also be wiped down completely.
“The mosquitoes lay their eggs in the water and if you don’t rinse out the eggs, when you fill it back up with water, you’re basically just filling it up to let the eggs hatch,” said Will.
Not a lot can be done about the floodwaters except making an effort to get the low-lying areas to dry up as quickly as possible.mosquito eggs is a good way to reduce this pest.
“For anybody that has low-lying areas around their house, fill them in with either rocks or dirt or something that can keep that water and make it drain faster,” Will said.
Peak mosquito season in Arizona lasts through November but starts up quickly again in the spring. Getting rid of standing water in flower pot saucers and wiping the saucers clean of mosquito eggs is a good way to reduce this pest.
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| ALL attendees will be required to sign a Covid Release & Waiver to attend the event. Please review it before arriving. For more details and to register – Tri-State Seminar |
2. Cleaning Your Swimming Pool After a Storm. Arizona saw a lot of rain over the weekend. And for many homeowners with pool this can bring a major, multi-day clean up.
Water from storms bring junk, dirt, oil, bacteria and more that end up in your pool. Pool experts say to not wait to clean out the debris because it could leave to damage for your pool equipment and likelihood of swimming in dirty water.
Let’s face it, cleaning your swimming pool after a storm can be annoying. Experts say the longer you wait to clean your pool after a storm, the worse the conditions are going to get, and the harder the process will be.
In many cases, pool owners might feel overwhelmed by the damage done to their house and pool. Sometimes, they don’t even know where to begin. Below is a detailed checklist that pool owners can use to clean their swimming pools after a heavy storm.
1. Remove Debris
The first step is to remove all the debris from your pool. It is recommended to not use your bare hands to remove debris. The concern is you don’t know which type of bacteria might be living in your water.
It is recommended that you use waterproof gloves before dipping your hands in. After the large debris has been removed, make sure the skimmer and pump baskets are free of debris.
2. Contact Your Pool Professional
If you have pool professional that takes care of your pool, contact them to see when their earliest appointment is. They will be busy, so initializing an appointment as soon as possible is key. Having the trained professional address your pool’s needs as soon as they can is important and can prevent a lot of issues.
While you wait for the appointment, ask for any recommendations they may have for your pool. They may have good tips or suggestions on what you can do, while you wait for their treatment.
3. Turn Power OFF
If you haven’t already done so, make sure you turn the power OFF at your equipment. Breakers can trip during storms and heavy rain. If this happens, reset the breakers. Ensure your pool equipment is operable.
If your breaker does not reset, call a professional. GFCIs are quite sensitive to moisture so if your breaker trips after a storm. The alternative is letting the sun work its magic a day or two to see if that resolves the issue. If it’s not summertime, you can probably just leave the pump off for a day. In the summertime, you may have a day or two without your pump running, however, if your pump is completely off, your pool will require extra chlorine (shock) and manual circulation with a pole a few times a day.
4. Clean & Backwash Filter
The filtering process is critical while you’re balancing and maintaining your pool. Any size storm can bring large amounts of bacteria, dust and pollen into your pool. Before running your filter, it will probably need a good cleaning or backwashing.
5. Brush & Vacuum
It is time to rid your pool of dirt and debris at the bottom of the pool. Start cleaning by vacuuming any excess dirt lying on your pool’s floor. Get that automatic cleaner fired up if you have one.
It is recommended that if your pool allows you to vacuum directly to waste, it is advised to do that instead of running the dirt through your filter. Vacuuming directly to waste will save your filter from clogging. However, if you cannot vacuum to waste, pay close attention to your filter’s pressure gauge. Once the pressure is too high, you want to backwash to clean your filter manually. Lastly, you will need to spend some some time brushing your pool walls. Try and remove as much dirt and bacteria as possible.
6. Test Your Pool Water
Testing your water is a crucial step towards balancing your pool. There are at home kits home owners can purchase as well as local pool stores that offer free testing.
7. Chlorinate
Now it is time to chlorinate. You will need to add chlorine to your pool is chlorine and probably lots of it. Shocking the pool stops algal blooms or any other bacteria from forming. Depending on how bad your pool levels are, you want to shock your pool two to three times the normal amount.
8. Balance Your Water Chemistry
Once your chlorine levels are level, you can begin to balance your other chemicals. Adjust your total alkalinity, pH, and CYA levels accordingly. It is important to continue testing and filtering your pool as you go.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
-Do not drain your pool especially in wet soil.
-Do not continue to run your pump without paying attention to the filter and skimmer.
-Do not turn on your pool equipment without first checking electrical systems and components.
-Only use your pool cleaner after you have removed all of the larger debris, you can clog your cleaner otherwise.
4. Monsoon Floods Rejuvenate Santa Cruz River Ecosystem. After one of Tucson’s driest years on record in 2020, recent flooding in the Santa Cruz River spells hope for a recovering riparian ecosystem and the water table lying beneath.
Early last week, the largest sustained flow of water seen in the Downtown area of the Santa Cruz River in about five years rushed over the riverbed, creating a muddy, urban oasis for desert life.
Such floods “help deliver important minerals and organic material, they help maintain the structure of the aquatic habitat (pools and riffles, etc.), they help reduce the abundance of non-native invasive species, and they help open space and reduce competition among native species,” Michael Bogan, an assistant professor of aquatic ecology at the University of Arizona, said in an Instagram post.
According to Luke Cole, the Sonoran Institute’s associate director for resilient communities and watersheds, flooding also breaks up the sediment on the river’s floor, allowing more water to break through the surface and soak into the ground.
This helps with one of the ultimate goals of the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project: recharging the aquifer.
“When you don’t have scour, that prevents surface water from percolating down into the rive14into the groundwater,” Cole said.
In the absence of occasional heavy rains and flooding, the main source of water feeding the river is the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project, a Tucson Water effort which adds 2.8 million gallons of treated effluent to the river daily. While this has rejuvenated pockets of the Santa Cruz near Downtown, it cannot harness the same ecological power as major flood events, Cole said.
As climate data shows Southern Arizona becoming warmer and drier, important flood events could decrease.
“We are still very much in the thick of a 21-22 year drought,” Cole said. “This is a sip of water during a trek across the desert.”
During major flood events, Tucson Water does not stop discharging water into the Santa Cruz, according to Fernando Molina, a spokesman for the city agency. Source: Tucson Sentinel
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