The Skies Above Los Altos and Mountain View Will Be Abuzz With A Plane Searching For Mosquito Sources

If you are out in your backyard tomorrow night (7/29/08) and hear a small plane overhead, it is possible that it is the one the Santa Clara County Vector Control District has sent out to find mosquito sources.

The plane will be equipped with digital photography equipment that will be aimed at your backyard looking for neglected swimming pools, ponds and other sources that could harbor mosquitoes that potentially carry the West Nile virus. 

If your backyard pool looks like this,

Expect to be contacted by Vector Control:

“Vector Control Technicians will contact and explain to property owners, identified through the aerial survey, the health risk posed by poorly maintained swimming pools and ponds. In cooperation with the property owner immediate steps will be taken to resolve the problem. Although formal enforcement has not been necessary, to date, property owners can be subject to fines of up to $1,000 per day for failure to abate a public health nuisance.”

In an aerial survey done earlier this year, more than 250 scummy green pools were identified.  Below is the map of the areas that will be surveyed.  Words of wisdom:  If you have a pool and like to swim in the nude, don’t do it tomorrow night otherwise you might end up on Youtube.