TERLTON — A multi-day water outage that impacted customers of Pawnee County Rural Water District (PCRWD) Two in Terlton has been resolved, however, the incident has prompted discussion on how information is shared during utility emergencies.
While the repair was reported to have been completed on June 19 customers had began noticing water pressure issues and intermittent service disruptions as early as June 8. On June 17, Pawnee County Emergency Manager Chirs Chailer noted a challenge throughout the event, was not only locating the leak but ensuring consistent communication with the public.
Communication Gaps Surface
Chailer said he first became aware of the situation after seeing residents posts on social media.
“Monday morning (June 15) at 7:45 a.m. I learned about it on Facebook,” he said.
Pawnee County Emergency Management (PCEM) immediately started posting situation updates eventually partnering with PCRWD Two — outlining shifting conditions including valve closures, tower level changes, and narrowing search areas for the leak.
Throughout the outage most public information was circulated through social media posts from emergency management, local fire departments, and residents themselves. Officials acknowledged many residents learned about water issues and distribution efforts through community pages rather than direct notification systems — with residents reporting extended outages and official updates limited or delayed confusion became widespread about the scope and duration of the problem.
Chailer described a breakdown of early communication between involved entities noting Terlton leadership had not yet spoken to him saying, “They’re not being very talkative, even to me”.
“They’ve got to realize they’re going on like nine or ten-days,” he said. “Some people not having water at all and I’ve got to get them to realize something has to be done — you gotta talk.”
Chailer did manage to schedule a meeting with the Terlton mayor later that day in an attempt to encourage active communication.
Following the leak being fixed Terlton Mayor Aethna Ward provided a statement addressing public concern — noting that the town does not operate or manage the water system and therefore does not control infrastructure updates.
“Water service is provided by Rural Water District No. 2, which is the entity responsible for the operation maintenance, repair, and management of the water system,” said Ward.
She also acknowledged that residents expect clear and timely updates during service disruptions regardless of such boundaries.
“The Town of Terlton recognizes the very real impact this situation had on our community. Residents expect basic services to be available and when disruptions occur they deserve timely information, clear communication, and transparency regarding restoration efforts. Those expectations are reasonable and our citizens have every right to expect answers,” she said. “Throughout the outage, town officials received concerns from residents who were seeking information and assistance. While the Town’s authority in this matter is limited, we understand the importance of advocating for our citizens and ensuring their concerns are heard. Our focus remains on supporting the people of Terlton and encouraging clear communication between service providers and the public.”
Terry Browne, operation manager for PCRWD Two said the district maintains an alert system that can send text and email notifications but participation is voluntary. He said the system depends on residents opting in.
“We can’t force people to be on the alert system that we have,” he said. “A lot of people they don’t want to be bothered with messages.”
While these notifications are effective for scheduled disruption, Browne also acknowledged unscheduled matters such as the leak in this case are another story.
“I get people that will call and they will be irate that we did not give them a 24-hour warning before we had a water leak but that’s not going to be scheduled,” he said. “I’d rather not have the leak in the first place but that’s not something we’re in control of.”
Difficulty Finding Leak
Managing both field operations and public messaging during an active leak investigation spanning hundreds of miles of rural infrastructure poses its own problems, according to Browne.
When the outage came to light despite being what Browne later described as a “minor issue” other challenges caused major difficulties.
For one, water was still flowing in most places the pressure was just low. Browne explained this meant it was not a full break but was a significant enough leak to cause problems with the district’s gravity-fed system which relies on elevated water towers to maintain pressure. As water escaped through the damaged line, pressure dropped throughout portions of the system causing customers at higher elevation to be impacted the most. At one point, Browne said water usage surged from a typical 80-gallons per minute to approximately 260-gallons per minute — indicating a substantial loss. While still searching for the leak workers isolated portions of the system during periods of lower demand to allow storage towers to recover.
According to Browne, the district oversees nearly 1,000-miles of water lines which runs through wooded areas, creeks, and locations inaccessible by road. He noted only himself and one other individual from PCRWD Two were available for field operations with the other individual Browne referred to as his “helper” still being trained — having only been hired the week prior.
Repeated rainfall created further complications. A typical sign of an underground leak is wet areas and running water above ground, however, rainwater runoff made it difficult to identify this telltell sign.
Browne stated he is dedicated to finding and solving problems that arise in the district despite limited resources.
“I don’t go home until the leaks fixed… I have five lines that run down just this quarter mile section,” said Browne on June 18 while beside Highway 412 on Airport Road actively searching miles of water line for signs of the leak. “It’s not something I can just put off until later.”
Browne said whenever there is a problem with the water he sees it as a personal matter not only because he is responsible for fixing it but also because he has family impacted the same as other customers.
“All my family lives out here, whenever our system’s down my 87-year-old grandfather is out of water just as much as everybody else — it’s a very personal thing,” he said.
PCRWD Two eventually began utilizing thermal drones, leak detection equipment, support from the Oklahoma Rural Water Association, and assistance from PCEM. As the situation developed local fire departments also stepped in to provide additional assistance through a variety of ways.
Fire Departments Fill Gaps
The local North 48 and Terlton Volunteer Fire Departments actively helped distribute information as well as water directly to residents.
North 48 Fire Chief Keith Buntin announced on June 15 that its station would be open for bottle water distribution and shower access by appointment. The department later expanded assistance in partnership with the Terlton fire department to include livestock water delivery for those impacted by the disruption.
“It’s a community building,” Buntin said referring to the North 48 fire station, “We’re part of the community and we want it to be used… You gotta think about everything — the human factor as well as the livestock side of it — figure out how to help everybody out.”
At the time, residents were instructed to call designated contacts to arrange such services which was deemed necessary in order to manage limited supplies and staffing. On June 16, Buntin had said approximately 30 residents had utilized the water distribution at his station. Considering the estimate was made prior to the leak being fixed and multiple organizations were offering water distribution a higher number is likely.
Buntin explained the decision came naturally when department members seen how quickly conditions began impacting residents daily lives.
“The biggest thing is you know when neighbors are in need you step up and help your neighbors,” he said.
Buntin also noted that many residents expressed a desire to repay the kindness shown during the emergency, “We’ll take care of you, you take care of us, and that's been a great thing”.
Water Restoration Timeline
On June 8, residents began noticing little to no water pressure — PCRWD No. 2 field operations began trouble shooting possible problems within a day, according to Browne.
A week later the first public notification from PCEM was made noting the issue. From June 15 until the leak was fixed updates were made on various social media pages including PCEM’s, North 48 and Terlton Volunteer Fire Departments’. Leak location efforts continued with added assistance from fire department members and PCEM.
OnJune16,localvolunteerfiredepartments in the area noted water distribution and shower services were available to residents impacted by the water issues. PCRWD No. 2 tower redistribution efforts allowed all residents to have water pressure, although still low in certain places and the leak location was narrowed down to a section but not yet pinpointed.
After more than a week of low water pressure and intermittent service disruptions, crews located and repaired a significant leak — restoring full pressure to the system.
The leak was discovered on June 18 in the middle of an open field out of view from any roadway.
“This repair required replacement of a valve, a segment of two different lines from PVC to a metal T, deletion of a flush hydrant that was struck most likely by vehicle or a tractor causing line in ground to stress and crack,” said Browne.
He reported repairs had been completed around 3 a.m. on June 19 with water towers full and at max pressure by 8 a.m.
While Chailer said he had advised water boiling out of an abundance of caution, Browne said there was no longer a need for the advisory and that no further action was needed. He also clarified while he tested the chloramine levels no additional testing would be need stating, “The reality is this was a minor issue vastly over dramatized on Facebook”.
Future Communication Efforts
With a timeline of nearly a full two-weeks from problems arising to the completed fix a series of broader questions about how rural infrastructures emergencies are provided to the public has arose.
While community outreach and leak detection efforts were continuous throughout the event the vital aspect of communication was not. For residents, officials, and first responders alike the experience underscored a shared concern — in a time when information spreads rapidly and often incorrectly through social media how do residents stay informed.
Chailer said one of the lasting outcomes of the incident will be a push to improve coordination and notification procedures between water districts, county agencies, and the public. He was prompted to make some changes in emergency planning documents he had been updating for the county — mainly the inclusion of water utility in communication protocols.
“I'm actually in the middle of updating our emergency operation plan for the county,” he said. “So the water departments are gonna go in it now, where they have not been in the past.”
Browne encouraged all PCRWD Two customers to reach out to sign up for local notifications — noting the district only deals with water so messages will be limited to things like scheduled system maintenance that may disrupt water service.
“We don’t want people getting caught off guard or sidetracked by a scheduled disruption, or anything like that,” he said.
In Ward’s statement, she said “Reliable infrastructure and effective communication are important for every community, especially small rural communities where residents may have limited alternatives when essential services are interrupted… We will continue working to share information when available and advocate for the interests of our community.”
Chailer pointedly noted that the expectation for transparency has notably shifted.
'Pawnee is really one of those counties, like let's just get everything done on the quiet, and once it's resolved, it'll all go back to normal, which these days that does not actually work as well as we'd like it to,' he said.