Maricopa County Vector Control gives advice on preventing mosquito breeding

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - The Valley is drying out from all the rain that it has received in the last few days. Now, however, there's a lot of standing water on streets and in yards.

That standing water breeds mosquitos. In fact, some people are already reporting a mosquito problem.

"If the rain continues, this is going to be a little above average year for the mosquito activity that we see," said Maricopa County Vector Control Supervisor Kurt Smith.

Vector Control in Maricopa County said people should not expect more mosquitos right away, because it takes them a while to develop, but definitely in the coming weeks.

"Two weekends ago, we had some rain that hit certain places in the County, and we're seen some of those places where the mosquitos are starting to pop," said Smith. "We get rain, we have standing water and then they will develop. They go into an immature stage and eventually an adult stage. Depending on the species that can take anywhere from three to 10 days."

"We'll search out a neighborhood, try to find out where they're breeding, and we're finding them breeding in storm drains and dry wells and that sort of thing, and we use hand held foggers where we can go around and direct the material directly into the drains and knock them out that way," said Smith.

There are things people can do to avoid a mosquito problem, such as get rid of standing water in places like flower pots and children's toys.

"Anything that can stay outside for three or more days has the potential to breed mosquitos," said Vector Control Lab Tech Megan Sports. "It can be anything as small as a cap full of water. They like to breed in very small areas like that."