'We're Not Being Heard': Adair County Residents Frustrated With Recurring Water Outages

Some people in Adair County are frustrated because they are not getting water to their homes. The latest outage has lasted several days, but issues have been going on for years.

Near Westville, local businesses are donating pallets of water which are quickly being snatched up by people who live in the area. For some, it is nearing a third week without clean drinking water. 

Bottles of water have become a necessity in households in recent years. 

“Sometimes it may be for half a day, three days, this last ordeal it’s been out for 14 days,” said Dakota Vaughn, an Adair County Rural Water District 5 customer. 

Vaughn is no stranger to the constant water disruptions. He spent thousands of dollars to have a well installed on his property to help get some water flowing again.

With a family at home, he quickly realized the major inconvenience of going two weeks without water. Before that, his family used water bottles and gallon jugs for drinking, bathing and using the restroom.

“You got a house of four—me, my wife, an eight-year-old—constantly going to the restrooms,” said Vaughn. “You can imagine just right there how many gallons. You start doing the math per day that you have to go through.”

Rebecca Guyll and her family are also in the second week without water.

“We’ve been having to drive either 28-30 miles to each of our parent's house so we can either do laundry, shower or eat,” said Guyll. 

Guyll says these problems have been happening for years and she is ready for a permanent solution. 

“We’re not being heard,” said Guyll. 

The water district office says the latest outage is because of a six-inch gash in a pipe. The district says it is still working with the Cherokee Nation and state agencies to get a long-term fix in place.