Calgary’s water system ‘still under strain’ as feeder main repair continues: CEMA

Repairs are underway on a critical piece of our wounded feeder main. It will still take days of testing and pressure stabilization.

Calgary officials warn the city’s water system remains under unsustainable strain, as daily demand continues to outpace what the network can safely deliver following a second major rupture of the Bearspaw South feeder main.

Water use reached 507 million litres on Monday — well above the 485 million litres the city says it can reliably sustain — as crews work to repair the Dec. 30, 2025, break on the feeder main, the same pipe that failed in June 2024.

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The latest update comes as the city pushes residents and businesses to sharply reduce consumption, while simultaneously facing renewed questions about aging infrastructure and governance following the release of an independent water review panel report earlier this week.

Demand remains unsustainable

City of Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) Chief Sue Henry said while the immediate repair is advancing, daily water demand remains well above sustainable levels.

“Calgary’s water system is still under strain,” Henry said. “We are slowly turning the curve.”

Henry said daily water use remains well above the 485 million litres it can reliably sustain while emergency repairs continue.

“This is still in the red zone and is unsustainable,” she said. “Unsustainable means there is no wiggle room to meet the kind of demand we’ve been seeing.”

Henry also warned the prolonged strain is putting pressure on the Glenmore plant, treated water storage and distribution pipes, reducing the city’s ability to respond to emergencies such as fires or sudden system failures.

“Our smaller Glenmore water treatment plant is working hard to deliver three times the water it normally would,” she said, adding reservoir levels are dropping because water is being drawn faster than it can be replenished.

She likened the city’s water storage system to a cellphone battery that is being drained faster than it can recharge overnight.

“If this continues day after day, our storage levels gradually drop, reducing our ability to keep the system stable and to have water available for emergencies like firefighting,” Henry said.

Repair progressing, but risks remain

Infrastructure Services General Manager Michael Thompson said crews have removed the damaged section of pipe and welded a new segment into place, marking a key milestone in the repair.

Backfilling around the pipe began overnight, with road repairs on 16 Avenue N.W. expected to follow once the soil work is complete.

The city notes that the road will reopen once it is safe for traffic, but did not provide a firm timeline.

Despite visible progress, Thompson stressed the city is still several steps away from restoring the feeder main to service.

“There are still several important steps before the pipe can go back into service,” he said.

Those steps include refilling a seven-kilometre section of the pipe, water quality testing, stabilizing system pressures and gradually easing water conservation measures.

Refilling the pipe alone will take about 48 hours and require roughly 22 million litres of water, Thompson said.

During that phase, the risk of another failure increases as pressure builds inside the aging pipe.

“The risk on this pipe is increased because of its fragile condition,” he said. “We are managing this risk by filling the pipe carefully and monitoring the pipe with sensors as we fill it.”

Once filled, water samples will then be taken and tested in coordination with Alberta Health Services and Alberta Environment to ensure water quality meets or exceeds regulatory standards.

“Microbiology analysis requires 24 hours to observe any formation of bacteria that could be harmful to the public,” Thompson said.

If testing identifies any issues, the water will need to be replaced and retested, potentially extending the timeline.

Even after water begins flowing through the system, Thompson stressed that pressure changes will still present the highest risk for additional breaks.

“Each time pressure changes are introduced into the feeder main or other pipes within the system, pipe connections and pipe walls experience initial stress,” he said.

Temporary protections for nearby communities

Given the risk of further failures, the city has begun implementing temporary community protection measures along the Bow River.

Henry said crews will remove two sections of the Bow River flood barrier along Montgomery Boulevard N.W. to allow water to flow back into the river in the event of another break.

“If there is a break in the pipe, it would also trap water in the community,” she said.

“Removing these sections of the berm will allow the water to flow into the river and help protect the surrounding area.”

Further east, temporary barriers will be installed along a 400-metre stretch of the Bow River pathway near Parkdale Boulevard N.W., with pathway detours expected.

The city is also clearing catch basins, opening outflows to the river and adjusting manhole covers to speed drainage, while preparing to deploy temporary pumps if needed.

“These are temporary measures as we return the pipe to service,” Henry said, adding longer-term strategies will remain in place until the feeder main is fully replaced.

City urges continued conservation

Officials continue to urge residents and businesses to reduce water use by about 30 litres per person per day.

“Every litre of water we save matters,” Henry said. “If every person who relies on our water system saves 30 litres, we will hit the target of 485 million litres and keep that battery charged.”

Henry said simple actions — flushing toilets less often, shortening showers and running dishwashers and washing machines only when full — can make a significant difference when adopted citywide.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas echoed that message, saying while water use has started to decline, the city remains in a crisis zone.

“We are turning a corner, but I want to be very clear, we are not in the clear yet,” Farkas said.

He said reducing water use protects both the overall health of the system and the city’s firefighting capacity.

“A major water main break is not just a frustrating inconvenience, it is a serious infrastructure failure that affects the entire city,” Farkas said.

Farkas praised city crews and contractors working long hours under difficult conditions.

“They’re working in the trenches, literally, 24/7,” he said.

“Calgary sees you and we appreciate you.”

Independent review fuels broader debate

The latest break comes as city council moves to implement recommendations from an independent review panel that examined the June 2024 rupture of the same feeder main, along with broader weaknesses in Calgary’s water system.

Farkas said council convened a special meeting this week to publicly release the panel’s findings and begin acting on them.

The panel concluded the failures were not isolated technical incidents, but symptoms of long-standing issues related to governance, decision-making and investment.

Former mayors Dave Bronconnier and Jyoti Gondek declined interview requests, while former mayor Naheed Nenshi said he was not available.

“As your mayor, I am taking personal responsibility,” Farkas said. “This work is underway and will be seen through.”

Council has now directed administration to return with advice on how to implement the panel’s recommendations, while accelerating plans to replace the feeder main entirely.

Meanwhile, Thompson responded to criticism Thursday on why the city’s water utility historically underspent its capital budget.

He notes that Calgary has made major changes in recent years to improve project delivery.

“Historically, the capital spending across the entire city was around 60 per cent,” Thompson said.

“We refocused our efforts to make sure that we were really delivering the investments that council had made. In 2024, we spent over 90 per cent of our capital budget, and we’ve spent similarly over 90 per cent this year.”

He said council has now approved roughly $3 billion in capital work citywide, more than three times previous levels, and said stronger leadership and focus have helped the city advance projects that previously stalled.

Former councillors weigh in?

Former Ward 9 councillor Gian-Carlo Carra said the review highlights deep-rooted governance challenges that extend beyond the water utility.

“The report is asking for three major things,” Carra said. “We need to have better decision-making processes, we need to have actual people actually in charge, and we need expert oversight.”

Carra said Calgary’s extensive pipe network — built to serve decades of outward, low-density growth — has become increasingly costly to maintain.

“That’s a tremendous amount of pipe for the population we have,” he said.

“We’re out of whack.”

He said repeated debates over spending and growth have made long-term infrastructure investment politically difficult.

“If you don’t invest money in things, they degrade,” Carra said.

Former Ward 7 councillor Druh Farrell said the panel’s focus on growth pressures resonated strongly with her experience on council.

“Council was under tremendous pressure to continue to grow out,” Farrell said. “And that always came at a cost.”

She said deferred maintenance decisions made over decades are now coming due.

“Deep utilities, you don’t see them,” Farrell said. “But when they fail, they fail big.”

Farrell said provincial funding reductions have also played a role, noting cities now receive significantly less support for lifecycle maintenance than in previous decades.

“This crisis has many parents,” she said. “Everyone really needs to come together and think long term.”

What happens next?

Thompson said the coming days will be a critical period as crews work to carefully return the feeder main to service.

“From now until the spring, we’re immediately working at returning the pipe to service, and that will be over the coming days,” Thompson said. “

This is a critical time — the pipe could break again as we return it to service.”

If the line returns to service without another failure, Thompson said it will be actively monitored around the clock.

“If there is no break as we return it into service and get it back in operation, we will be monitoring it very actively as we go forward,” he said.

If another rupture occurs, Thompson said crews are ready to respond immediately.

“If there is a break in the line, we have the parts and the people ready to spring into action to immediately go and fix that break,” he said, adding the city has identified additional hot spots that could be repaired to keep the line operating until a replacement is built.

If the pipe does not fail again before spring, Thompson said the city plans to shut it down once seasonal water flows improve, allowing crews to complete further repairs.

“If there are no breaks until spring, we will be shutting the line down in the spring once the water flows into the Glenmore Reservoir start to pick up,” he said.

At the same time, Thompson said the city is accelerating construction of a permanent replacement for the feeder main.

“What we learned on Dec. 30 is we have to go faster than we’ve done before.”