War Against Mosquitoes Comes With Sting of Fee

The hot, humid dog days of summer have returned to San Diego County, bringing with them malaria-bearing mosquitoes and a flurry of pesticide-spraying activity.

The only difference from malaria scares of years past is that this time, beginning this week, the mosquito-spraying is being provided at the direct expense of the county’s homeowners.

Under the county’s new vector control program, approved by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, individual property owners will be assessed for vector control services ranging from surveillance of the rat population to extermination of disease-carrying insects. The bill, which will be included in the property owner’s annual tax assessment, will range from 38 cents for time-share condominiums to $19 for shopping centers or apartments with five or more units, according to Gary Stephany, county director of environmental health.

Expanded Service

The new system will save the county about $1.4 million a year--the amount spent on vector control from the county’s general fund last fiscal year. By contrast, the assessment system will pull in $3.2 million, directly from the homeowners’ pockets.

The extra millions will provide greatly expanded service, which, according to Stephany, will make the difference between scrambling to react to crises and keeping pests under control from the start.

“In the last 30 years, we only increased the program by two staff members,” Stephany said. “It got to the point where we were only doing crisis response . . . when it got real bad, we had to go out and spray in the air, then warn people to stay inside.”

The expanded program will provide for 22 more vector control technicians, more effective prevention services and, for the first time, rodent control. The county vector control program has focused on insect infestations throughout its 40-year existence, but the need for rodent control became apparent after recent surveys showed evidence of rats in up to 31% of homes in the county, Stephany said.

The mosquito problem, he said, has also increased exponentially with the unprecedented population boom, especially in North County. “Every time you create a new subdivision, you create more drainage, more surface runoff” from golf courses and lawns being watered, and cars being washed, Stephany said. New neighborhoods are also springing up closer than ever to the lagoons, canyons and drainage areas that are natural mosquito breeding grounds, he said.

The $43-million flood control project under way on the San Luis Rey River in Oceanside has also contributed to that community’s mosquito problems, Stephany said. The Army Corps of Engineers project, which will create a flood-control channel, two holding ponds and levies on both sides of the river, will prevent nearby businesses and homes from having to pay exorbitant flood insurance rates, according to Oceanside spokesman Larry Bauman. But the construction work, which has created pools of stagnant water, may last another six months to two years, Bauman said.

Some Joined Reluctantly

All 18 cities within the county have agreed to buy into the new vector control program, though some joined reluctantly. Stephany, who attended a variety of city council meetings to urge adoption of the new program, said he heard frequent complaints about the cost. “The comment I heard most often was, ‘We don’t want the county to come back to the cities for more money for any more programs,’ ” Stephany said.

The El Cajon City Council, the last to join, granted its final approval Tuesday night after considering and rejecting the possibility of setting up its own vector control program. “It’s just not cost-effective for a city (to do it itself),” Stephany said. “Plus, it’s a regional problem. If you have an insect in one city, there’s nothing to stop it from going over the city line.”

Oceanside was another city that seriously considered establishing its own program and telling the county to keep its assessments to itself. But a city staff report concluded that it would cost $300,000 to $400,000 to hire four vector control specialists, purchase equipment and get the program under way. By contrast, the county’s assessment to Oceanside will total $194,210 a year, according to a report submitted to the City Council by City Manager Ronald Bradley.

Citing the city’s urgent need for mosquito control, the council voted July 26 to accept the county’s terms. “We’re not closing off our options,” Bauman said. “It’s still possible that in future years we might decide it will be more cost-effective and more effective in terms of mosquito control to design and manage our own program.”

National City Mayor George Waters also balked at approving the program, voting in the minority against joining it. According to Stephany, Waters felt the assessment was nothing more than another tax and noted that the city has promoted industry specifically to keep the residents’ taxes down.

Threat to Public Health

The immediate need for mosquito control and the attendant threat to the public health was the factor that most influenced the cities that were holding back their approval. “Certainly, the comments made by people at the public hearing made it clear that mosquitoes are a big concern,” said Oceanside’s Bauman.

The danger was vividly illustrated by reports of three documented cases of malaria within the last week. Two cases were reported Aug. 4 in Rancho Penasquitos, and another case was discovered Tuesday in Rancho Santa Fe, according to county health department spokesman Ron Yardley.

In the last week, the county health department has “fogged” for mosquitoes in Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Penasquitos, Oceanside and the Tijuana River Valley near the Mexican border.

Seventy-two malaria cases were reported in 1988; 30 of the victims contracted the disease in the Del Dios area near Lake Hodges, southwest of Escondido. Yardley said 33 cases have been reported this year.

“We’ve had three major outbreaks of malaria in the last four years, and each year it seems to be getting worse,” Stephany said.