As summer draws closer residents of Bowling Green will soon begin battling an age-old pest — mosquitoes.

This year though, there will be no insecticide spraying for mosquitoes provided by Warren County or the City of Bowling Green, due to increased costs associated with the service.

Nikki Koller, director of Stormwater Management for Warren County, said the cost of one 55 gallon drum of mosquito spray is around $12,000 to $15,000, a price she said rose after the Zika virus, which is transmitted through mosquito bites, erupted.

Koller said additional costs cover pay for workers who drive the mosquito spray trucks.

“Every mosquito spraying that was done is overtime which gets costly when you do it every night,” Koller said.

There were also issues with the effectiveness of spraying from streets.

“You would only hit however far the spray would reach and depending on which way the wind’s blowing, it might not even hit your side of the road,” Koller said. “It wouldn’t necessarily be effective. Most people don’t hang out in their front yards, they hang out in their backyards.”

Koller said the best way for residents to deal with mosquitoes is, simply, “to eliminate them from the beginning.” This can be done by emptying out objects and containers that collect water, such as gutters, small pools and birdbaths.

“Anything that holds water, even if it’s as small as 1/4th of a cup, is enough for hundreds of eggs to be laid in,” Koller said.

To kill mosquitoes more proactively, Koller said residents can use what is known as a “mosquito dunk.” Dunks are small ring-shaped objects that, when placed in water, will attract the insects and kill the eggs before they hatch.

Andy Souza, director of Public Works for the City of Bowling Green, described mosquito spraying in a community meeting last week as a “colossal waste of money.”

“You have to stay within the right of way,” Souza said in the meeting. “We have to have the right of way, we have to (go in the) right direction to hit the male mosquitos at the right time, it was just a colossal waste of money.”

Souza said some states use aerial spraying where chemicals are sprayed from planes or helicopters to kill adult mosquitoes and mosquito larvae.

He said when aerial spraying is done it’s usually under a partnership with the National Guard, but it is “way more expensive” than traditional mitigation.