From: Bruce
December 25, 2011
   Kevin Boisa said that the city has given up on the island. It costs too much money to water it in winter. So if it doesn't rain, nature will take its course. Right now that course seems to be dead grass. It has never looked this bad,even turning to dirt in places. I am envious of those people who have a view of vacant lots from their houses since many of them look better than this island. |
From: Bruce
November 20, 2011
  After about a month of no rain the center island looks about as bad as it ever has. The dead grass has turned dark brown/gray and the little bit of green in the other areas has faded to an almost solid light brown. Apparently the automated watering system isn't working or was turned off. I called Kevin Boisa last Wednesday and haven't heard back from him. |
From: Bruce
October 17, 2011
  After a few days of hard rain there is a general cool weather greening going on. A lot of the green colors are weeds with maybe a little additional grass in there. |
From: Bruce
September 4, 2011
   Watering seems to be consistent and covering fairly well resulting in minor improvements in greening. Still large portions of dead grass. |
From: Bruce
August 28, 2011
   The island continues to gradually get more green. One of the dead areas is showing significant increases in greening, while the other is still largely dead. There area by the street has more spots of green but is still a swath of dead grass. |
From: Bruce
August 20, 2011
  The most recent watering pattern seems to have brought out some hints of green in some spots. Maybe that is an indication that if there were more live grasses in the area, they would be green. |
From: Bruce
August 14, 2011
   Kevin Boisa said they will reseed grass at the end of summer. He thinks there is enough water being applied now to support healthy grass. Of the 13 stations on that clock, two stations cover the problem area at 50th and T. The heads are now rotators, a new type of head. Low pressure causes them not to work as well, and at night a lot of times there is low pressure for various reasons. They are set at 120% of normal budget and can't go any more with out a flooding problem. With the three day schedule there will be yellowing or browning which they are going to accept at present. They will also be looking at going to drought tolerant vegetation. |
From: Bruce
August 7, 2011
  Called Kevin last Wednesday and informed him that the center part of the island near 50th and T was getting browner again. It had not greened up much with extended watering but in the last week or two it has actually gotten worse. He indicated that he was going to look at it and might tweak the watering again. |
From: Bruce
July 30, 2011
   This is after about a week of extended watering time for the middle section of the island. The worst area shows virtually no improvement. The other dying area is still not recovering in the center but there is some improvement around the edges which might be extending into the center. Also note that the area that is dead to the curb is still in poor shape with just a few sprigs of green. |
From: Bruce
July 26, 2011
| Kevin Boisa returned my call and said he had been out to check the area on Friday. He said he could increase the water time for the station in them middle portion of the island to try to revive the grass in the dead areas. A crew was supposed to have come out Saturday and check the whole system to make sure it was working properly. |
From: Bruce
July 22, 2011
  Left a message for Kevin that the island was greening a bit in some places but the severe areas showed no greening. It appears that the extended five day watering cycle has been changed back to the three days per week.
You can see in the pictures the worst area which has just a hint of green around the edges of it, and the second worst area with a little more greening near in it but still totally dead in the heart of it. |
From: Bruce
July 15, 2011
 After a week on the new schedule the sprinklers do seem to be going off as scheduled. The ground is not soaked but is moist and there is a slight greening in some areas. The worst area is not showing any signs of coming back to life as you can see in the picture. |
From: Bruce
July 7, 2011
| Kevin Boisa called back and said there had been some problems with the sprinkler system. He will set it to go off five days a week to try to make up for the lack of water recently. Normal days are Tu, Th, Sa. Now it should be We and Fr also. |
From: Bruce
July 6, 2011
 Left a voice mail for Kevin Boisa saying that the area is not better, in fact it is worse. |
From: Bruce
June 20, 2011
 Kevin Boisa returned my call and said they were still tweaking the system. He confirmed that there are less sprinklers in the middle portion of the island and hence less water per watering session. They will weed the area and might consider some reseeding to compensate for areas where the grass had died. Kevin said give it two weeks and see if there is an improvement. Kevin Boisa 808-6286. |
From: Bruce
June 17, 2011
| Called Loretta Carrasco and left a voice mail message that the sprinklers still do not seem to have gone off today, Friday. The area had been on Wednesday, Friday, Sunday water cycle. |
From: Bruce
June 15, 2011
| Called Loretta Carrasco to let her know that the island on T Street at 50th is turning brown and does not appear to be getting water. She said she had received similar complaints and would check on it that day. |
From: Bruce
March 16, 2011
 Talked to Loretta Carrasco, Ricardo’s replacement, about the watering system. Explained to her about the dead spots. She said that with the new conservation system the lawn might not be as lush, but should remain green. Note the area in the picture where the grass had died. It is now almost entirely weeds. |
From: Bruce
September 15, 2010
 The island is turning brown again. Ricardo Montanez said that the City has gone to a different controlling mechanism (satellite?) for activating the sprinklers. This is apparently not working well. Several spots on the island have not only browned but the grass has completely died. Ricardo saw the worst area near 5008 T Street on the south side of the island. |
From: Bruce
August 10, 2010
| The watering of the island at 50th Street seems to have increased and has greened up substantially. |
From: Bruce
July 17, 2010
| Ricardo Montanez said that the brown and dying grass on the island near 50th and T Streets is a result of a new water conservation program. He might apply for an exception since that area is dying. He said the situation is further complicated because the sprinklers don’t water evenly so some areas get more water. The ends of the islands get more water at about 51st Street and also at about 49th Street. However the middle, at about 50th Street receives less and as a result certain spots get very little water un the new system. |