City receiving complaints about mosquitoes

Ouch! Another result of recent rains — an invasion of mosquitoes that's prompted a flood of calls for help to city hall.

Clovis City Manager Joe Thomas said employees at city hall offices have received 10 to 15 calls per day complaining about the large amount of mosquitos in Curry County, which have come to life due to recent rains.link Stock image: Mosquitoe

“Anytime you have standing water, that’s the area mosquitoes use to lay eggs,” Thomas said. “The mosquitoes hatch in the water, then after a time, they are able to fly away.”

Thomas said areas with standing water can include ditches on the side of roads and basins in open fields.

He said winds prevent the city and county from spraying for the insects.

He said a federal law adopted by New Mexico does not allow cities and counties to spray for insects when winds are blowing 10 mph or higher.

“If you have winds that high or higher, you aren’t accomplishing anything with spraying because the wind blows the spray away,” Thomas said.

Thomas said Vector Control, a division under the city’s Code Enforcement Department, is dealing with the issue in the best way they can and have treated more than 300 areas in the county over the last two weeks.

These areas include where mosquitoes lay eggs, such lakes, playas, ditches and other places with standing water

“There’s still a major problem out there (with mosquitoes), but we’re dealing with it as aggressively as we can and sending out as much staff as we can to deal with it,” Thomas said.