ABSTRACT
In California, as in most areas, toxic chemicals and water pollution are major concerns. Additionally, habitat destruction in general and loss of wetlands in particular are of increased importance to Californians. Communities in the San Francisco Bay area are surrounded by critical habitat and must serve large human populations. Many and varied approaches to wastewater treatments are underway, and each presents a unique set of problems. In Marin and Sonoma counties, within which lies my 2486-km2 mosquito control district, there are five (and soon six) major treated-effluent irrigation projects. Continued surveillance is necessary, though, because problems at treatment plants or unusually hot weather can easily kill off resident mosquito fish populations, resulting in emergence of very large numbers of mosquitoes in a short period of time. Mosquito control must be a basic element of the preproject planning as well as in operation and management documents for all treated-effluent systems.
