MODESTO BEE
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

By KEN CARLSON
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: February 23, 2006, 06:45:43 AM PST

Homeowners who fail to maintain their swimming pools and other backyard water features could receive a visit from mosquito abatement officials this year.

In battling the West Nile virus last year, officials learned that unkempt back yards were some of the biggest breeding sources for mosquitoes that spread the disease.

While it refrained from aerial spraying of cities last year, the Turlock Mosquito Abatement took aircraft over Turlock and Denair neighborhoods to look for greenish-brown pool water.

The district identified 30 homes with pools breeding mosquitoes and told the owners to clean them. Those homes will get a follow-up visit this year, said Jerry Davis, district general manager.

The Turlock and Modesto-based East Side mosquito abatement districts have legal authority to assess penalties of up to $10,000-a-day if owners don't comply with cleanup orders.

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