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Boil order issued to beleaguered residents of Rural Water District 21

A critical filter system broke at the water plant this week, and the Department of Environmental Quality issued a mandatory boil order to rural residents. Until funding is found to fix the filtration system, the boil order will remain in place

Rural Water District 21 issued a mandatory boil order on Monday for a large swath of the reservation, stretching from west Pawhuska to Newkirk and out to the Kansas line.

The RWD 21 main line is 80 miles long, and hundreds and thousands of miles shoot off from that source, said Alan Kuykendall of Phoenix Oil and Utility Services, who witnessed the filtration failure while working at the water plant.

Kuykendall is contracted by RWD 21 to maintain the plant and water lines, and Chairwoman Jill Gray said they are indebted to him for catching the issue quickly.

After he called in the filter failure to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), they contacted RWD 21’s water board. The board then distributed the boil order across social media as residents began to notice brown water coming out of their faucets.

Calls and texts flooded the district office in Grainola, where Office Manager Gretchen Hall was working her first day. She had to tell them there was currently no end in sight to the boil order.

The board has no funding to replace the plant’s broken filter. It’s still early, but Kuykendall said it could cost up to $1.1 million to fix the system.

The typical household in RWD 21 utilizes 7,000 gallons of water a month.

The boil order reads, “Due to the potential for contamination following a prolonged period of elevated turbidity, the drinking water supplied by the Osage County Rural Water District No. 21 water system may be unsafe for human consumption. … DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring water to a full, rolling boil for one minute before drinking, preparing food, making baby formula, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, bathing infants who may drink bath water, or for cleaning open wounds.”

The broken filter is one of two important types at the water plant, said Kuykendall. Both are needed to ensure clean water. “[The broken one] is the secondary filtration system. It’s called a membrane. It removes manganese and iron … which are common in well water and in Kaw Lake near the Arkansas River,” he said. Much of the water in Osage County comes from these sources.

Kuykendall said he was not surprised that the filter broke down. “It’s so old,” he said.

Rural Water District 21 water board convened for an emergency meeting after issuing a mandatory boil order. L to R: Board Chair Jill Gray, concerned resident Kim Shorb, Board Secretary Shirley Kelly, attorney Steve Venturi, contractor Alan Kuykendall and Department of Environmental Quality Programs Specialist Ian Parker. CHELSEA T. HICKS/Osage News

At an emergency meeting of the water board on Tuesday, Aug. 20, Gray noted RWD 21 has the 165th worst water quality in the United States.

She said the quality of water in the area is generally bad and they have one of the largest water districts in the state, “[but] without a lot of dollars,” she said. “So, it’s a lot of maintenance without a lot of income.” 

During their Aug. 20 meeting, the board passed motions to apply for emergency grants. They had recently been discouraged due to being denied funding by the government.

“We’ve been begging for money,” said Gray. “Until we get funding, there’s not much we can do.”

An Osage board member, Chris Murphy, has been at work explaining the situation to the tribe’s engineers, Joe Ely and Allan Richards of Stetson Engineers. Murphy was not able to attend the emergency meeting and was unavailable for comment due to surgery, but the board hopes the tribe might help RWD 21.

An RWD 21 rural water customer, Kim Shorb, attended the emergency meeting. She said she’s only seen one other water issue while residing in the area. “We’ve lived in Webb City [northwest of Shidler] and this is only the second [issue] I’ve ever been dealt with myself. The worst thing we had was line breaks when the tribe was putting in fiber optic cables.” 

Past woes and water line troubles

At the end of the water line, just west of Pawhuska, more than 55 families and businesses reside near the RWD 21 Timber Hill water tower. Among those customers is the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Osage Nation Ranch, the APAC rock quarry, the Assembly of God, the Pawhuska Airport and several Osage families, including Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear.  

In 2021, those customers near the Timber Hill water tower were without water for more than 50 days, off and on that year, after inclement weather and other issues damaged the water system. The tribe appropriated $74,000 to the city of Pawhuska to supply the Timber Hill water tower and take on those extra customers into its water district. However, the RWD 21 board would not relinquish the customers for fear of loss in revenue. The money was never spent.  

The Rural Water District 21 office in Grainola, Okla. CHELSEA T. HICKS/Osage News

Would the government do a better job?

DEQ Environmental Programs Specialist Ian Parker also attended the emergency meeting but declined comment. Some board members are unsure if they should give water management over to the DEQ. They worry the government may not be as attentive as they are, but the board is still working closely with the DEQ.

The board was first formed to help provide more water to rural residents and farmers, said Shirley Kelly, a board member who is the daughter of local dairy farmers. “There was not enough water, so it was founded for not only people but livestock as well,” she said.

Whenever there is low water availability, the board shuts the ranchers off. “We shut off all commercial accounts,” said the chairman. “But we like them, in general, because it’s cash flow.”

With additional reporting by Editor Shannon Shaw Duty

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Chelsea T. Hicks
Chelsea T. Hickshttps://osagenews.org
Title: Staff Reporter
Email: chelsea.hicks@osagenation-nsn.gov
Languages spoken: English
Chelsea T. Hicks’ past reporting includes work for Indian Country Today, SF Weekly, the DCist, the Alexandria Gazette-Packet, Connection Newspapers, Aviation Today, Runway Girl Network, and elsewhere. She has also written for literary outlets such as the Paris Review, Poetry, and World Literature Today. She is Wahzhazhe, of Pawhuska District, belonging to the Tsizho Washtake, and is a descendant of Ogeese Captain, Cyprian Tayrien, Rosalie Captain Chouteau, Chief Pawhuska I, and her iko Betty Elsey Hicks. Her first book, A Calm & Normal Heart, won the 5 Under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation. She holds an MA from the University of California, Davis, and an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts.
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