Midges might not bite, but they certainly bug

The conflict between Clark County and the city of North Las Vegas over the Sloan Channel took a turn for the buggy this week.

Firefighters at the newly opened Fire Station No. 20 at 5865 Judson Ave. noticed the arrival of a multitude of mosquitolike insects about a week and a half ago. One particular wall in the courtyard is covered with the insects every afternoon. The bugs were hovering in clouds near the Sloan Channel and the nearby park and county buildings.

"Remember the movie 'The Birds'?" said Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, whose District B includes the station. "It's kind of like that but with mosquitoes."

The initial concern was that the insects were mosquitoes, which might carry diseases such as West Nile virus.

"Mosquitoes breed in standing water," said Clark County Vector Control supervisor Chris Bramley. "Our first step was to check the area for green swimming pools. But we didn't find any."

County pest control workers soon discovered that the swarms were chironomid midges, commonly referred to as non-biting midges and also frequently mistaken for mosquitoes. They are rarely a disease carrier and don't represent an immediate threat.

But they are annoying.

"We have some midges all across the valley," Bramley said. "We don't have them in these numbers, where they're in large swarms bothering people on the walking trail and at the fire station and the senior center. This is an abnormal amount of chironomid midge production."

County officials maintain that the midges are the result of the city of North Las Vegas releasing a constant stream of effluent from the recently opened North Las Vegas Water Reclamation Facility, which borders one of the oldest neighborhoods in the Sunrise Manor township.

North Las Vegas sewage treatment officials didn't return calls seeking comment Wednesday.

"I haven't surveyed the plant. So I can't say the midges are coming from there," Bramley said. "But I can say they're breeding in the water they're releasing into the previously dry channel."

North Las Vegas began releasing treated effluent from its new $240 million wastewater treatment facility on June 9. The water flows through Sloan Channel to Las Vegas Wash and eventually into Lake Mead. The city plans to discharge about 25 million gallons per day from the plant.

But the city ran afoul of Clark County, which maintains the flood control channel. The county and the city are still fighting in federal court over the channel. U.S. District Judge Philip Pro last month questioned whether the court has jurisdiction in the matter. County officials think the battle should go to state court, while the city is fighting to keep it in federal court, saying it belongs there because the plant is built on land leased from Nellis Air Force Base.

Pro could rule on the jurisdictional issue at any time.

While both sides were waiting for the courts to decide, the midges were breeding in shallow mud under the water. Their larvae are called bloodworms because of their bright red color. County pest control officials surveyed the Sloan Channel and discovered there were more than 500 bloodworms per square foot of water along the channel.

"That's a big number for around here," said Gary Jones, a Western Exterminator Company entomologist. "We just don't get that much moisture out here."

County specialists have surveyed the channel from Carey Avenue to Stewart Avenue and, because the area is what they describe as "a perfect breeding ground for midges," expect to find them all along the nearly four-mile channel.

"Normally, natural predators would keep their numbers down," Jones said. "A lot of the control happens in the water when they're still in their larval stage when they're eaten by frogs, fish or lizards. The water is too shallow for any natural biological control to form."

By the time they become an airborne annoyance, natural predators such as birds and bats can't really make much of a dent in their numbers, although Jones said that anywhere there are a lot of midges in the valley, spiders create great matted webs across stucco surfaces to harvest them.

"We've had a record number of bugs because of the late summer," Jones said. "But that doesn't have a lot to do with the midges. They just need the right conditions in the water."

Jones said that there are seven types of midges in the area and that biting midges are almost never seen here. He recalled that 25 years ago the midges were a real problem around the valley's man-made lakes, but local companies now treat the lakes with growth regulators that alter the life cycle of the midges, keeping them from reaching their final stage in which they grow wings.

"It was so bad some people couldn't go out on their porch because they couldn't breathe because there were so many of them. They're under control now. But you'll always have some around."

Because of the channel's volume and flow, the county's initial assessment is that treatment wouldn't work and that there is no effective solution, short of shutting down the water flow and letting the breeding ground dry out.

"Because of the continually flowing water, you're going to continuously have an enormous amount of bugs," Collins said. "It's not cost effective to control these varmints at the volume of water that's flowing."

Bramley said shutting down the water for 14 days would allow the breeding mud and algae to dry up and break the breeding cycle, but it probably would return to current midge levels around 30 days after the water flow resumed.

Because the North Las Vegas Water Reclamation Facility uses membrane bioreactor technology, it treats the sewage with living organisms, and the system is complicated and expensive to restart once it has been shut off.

County pest control officials maintain ongoing treatment to control insects in several washes across the valley but haven't previously encountered this level of rapid midge infestation.

The bugs out there now are annoying," Collins said, "but I'm concerned that if someone dumps a tire or something in there and you get standing water, we'll start having mosquitoes breeding."

Vector Control is keeping an eye on the situation and is encouraging residents who live near the channel to call 455-7543 if they have any questions or concerns.

"If they have samples in their house they believe are mosquitoes, we'll come and pick them up and identify them," Bramley said. "Just pick them up with a piece of Scotch Tape and put them in a baggie."

"North Las Vegas thought they were going to cut a fat hog by paying only $50,000 dollars to maintain that channel," Collins said, quoting the number the county suggested to help maintain the channel. "It'll cost them more than that just to control these insects."

Review-Journal reporter Lynnette Curtis contributed to this report.Contact Sunrise and Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.

Trending topics:

• bloodworms
• Chris Bramley
• Clark County
• F. Andrew Taylor
• Gary Jones
• Las Vegas
• midges
• North Las Vegas
• sewage plant
• Sloan Channel
• Sunrise Manor
• Tom Collins

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. EHarris Aug. 4, 2011 | 3:34 p.m. Report Abuse

   I'm sure the firefighter union will come up with a multimillion dollar solution to this non issue... Regular people can use a screen room or a $3 head net for the couple weeks a year this is a problem... I blame gw bush

2. EHarris Aug. 4, 2011 | 3:31 p.m. Report Abuse

   If the stream of water is constant they could turn the wash into a park like summerlin has to their washes then put some trout in the creek (they love to eat these bugs) and have a water front park with great fishing... Who doesn't love waterfront property...

3. EHarris Aug. 4, 2011 | 3:26 p.m. Report Abuse

   Dear lord, people will point fingers and complain about everything. It has been rainy and muggy for the better part of 2 weeks let things dry out then see how bad it is. These bugs do not bite.

4. sjlacey Aug. 3, 2011 | 7:05 p.m. Report Abuse

   So nice to hear Vector Control is "keeping an eye on the situation." How about them living with “the situation” like those of us in close proximity to the Sloan Channel. How about not being able to walk outside without being covered with midges; how about having them coming in on their dogs or through a swamp cooler, or when a door is opened or how about finding their showers and bathroom sinks littered with little dead bodies every morning? Keep an eye on them then! How about not being able to read a newspaper, watch TV or use a computer or eat a meal without swatting them away, or have them landing in their food. Keep an eye on that! What is this, just another governmental evasion technique hoping it will just go away? It is no longer acceptable to just "keep an eye on it." Or maybe keeping an eye on the situation is tallying now many cans of insect spray are needed per home. It may appear to be just a harmless little bug to the governmental powers that be, but it is an invasion detrimental to our quality of life. You have a neighborhood up in arms – and not just from swatting midges, but in anger over nothing being done to correct the problem. …oh, that’s right the county says there is no effective treatment. I wonder how quickly that “no effective treatment” would last if these county pest control officials were in our shoes.

5. Telkai Jul. 28, 2011 | 1:21 p.m. Report Abuse

   Since most midges cannot survive in running water and must use the mud or silt on the bottom of the canal to protect them, a brushing of the canal bottom to encourage the mud and silt to move down the canal to Lake Mead would be beneficial. What I've seen of the water flow is that it is moving pretty fast. Once you get rid of the residual silt, the problem should decrease dramatically. In places where the water is moving slowly, introduce fish and/or frogs.

6. Star Ali Mistriel Jul. 28, 2011 | 9:07 a.m. Report Abuse

   So that's what they are! I have gone through countless cans of bug spray now, and know WHO to sent the bill to! At first, the outside of my whole fairly new home was plastered with them, and I had to buy automatic dispensers to inject the inside of my home with spray to make it liveable! This whole project has been the cause of great grief for me and my family, those elected and nonelected powers that be, simply bullied their way into getting this WWTP in the neighborhood, even though there were mass objections. Great suffering and harm continues to be inflicted upon us here in the neighborhood, they should BUY the properties of anyone who wants out of here to be FAIR. Just drive down East Carey Avenue and see for yourself the lack of landscaping and caring on their parts....it's all about what the POLITICIANS, their corporate friends building the project, and the power hungry officials on the military base blowing off the community who gets ZERO BENEFIT from this new City of North Las Vegas Waste Water Treatment Plant built in the County strip. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!

7. Vegas Visions Jul. 28, 2011 | 8:54 a.m. Report Abuse

   we've had these pests for years where i live (next to a lake on a golf course). they come in the spring and leave when it gets hot. they're gone from here now...i guess we know where they went now.

8. sof4u Jul. 28, 2011 | 7:58 a.m. Report Abuse

   Perhaps Sunrise Manor should build a Sewage Treatment Plant in North Las Vegas and see how they like it. I have lived in Sunrise Manor for 11 years and nobody asked me if I wanted treated sewage flowing near my house.

9. bnjmn375 Jul. 28, 2011 | 7:55 a.m. Report Abuse

   Really trying to figure out what the big deal is here, of course I am not from Vegas. What the people who live around there are experiencing is what the rest of the country with higher rainfall rates experience every summer. Warm wheather and water equals bugs, get over it.

10. Tahoe.DI Jul. 28, 2011 | 7:17 a.m. Report Abuse

    The city of No. LV will soon ask the feds for some $$$ to "protect" their newly found "City Bird", they will want to put the midges into the protected class category! At least that request will fall right into line as to how things are run by that city council.

Read All Comments