TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa man is going on two and a half weeks without water, and he is struggling to understand the reason the city believes he is responsible for massive repairs.
Hunter Gotcher is a former American Idol contestant, but he says no one would envy his current situation.
WATCH: New home, no water: Tulsan’s mysterious fight to get water back on
Many in North Tulsa know his newly purchased home as that unique mid-century house that sits just north of Booker T. Washington High School.
Gotcher thought of it as his dream home.
“An artistic echo chamber for me,” he explained. “It just puts me in the right headspace to create.”
Since the home is also zoned for commercial space, he hoped to open it as an intimate performance space for emerging artists.
He says when he bought it in October of 2025, it was newly renovated and passed inspections, but now calls it, “essentially uninhabitable at this moment.”
Why? It’s not fully clear.
On December 13, he says the City of Tulsa crews were doing some work along Apache Street, right in front of his house.
“They came to my door several times, asking if my water was off,” he said. “I said, ‘no, no, it’s fine,’ and then all of a sudden it was off.”
Then, crews tell him they shut the water off due to a leak and that he needed to call a plumber.
He did. $1400 in work later, and no leak found. It also left him with drywall and tile work that now needs to be repaired from the search for the leak.
Gotcher called a second plumber—the one who renovated the home.
That plumber showed up to the home and told him the water line they turned on is now in a spot covered in grass.
“It is completely gone, they [city crews] removed the water line,” said Gotcher. “What is going on?”
Gotcher says the city wants him to reroute his line to some old, original pipes on the backside of the house.
“That shouldn’t be my responsibility to call a plumbing service, spend $10,000 to get this routed to another water line,” he said. “Apparently, it’s going to be extensive work.”
Gotcher just had shoulder surgery. He says he loves his community and is just trying to make a living and pay the bills, but lack of running water is putting that life at a standstill.
What does the City of Tulsa say?
2 News reached out to the City of Tulsa. A spokesperson says they are aware of the unique situation.
However, their explanation does not include work on the city street or a water line that was removed.
The city says they got a request from the owners of the vacant lot next door to Gotcher, to turn off the meter. When the city turned off the meter, the city realized Gotcher’s house was getting water from that lot’s meter without a permit.
2 News is told some repairs need to be made before service is restored, but that they are working with Gotcher to try and come up with a solution.
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