Calgary council asking for $609M in additional money for water infrastructure

Calgary city hall says it is racing to catch up on repairing neglected water infrastructure as the cost to repair the Bearspaw feeder main is revealed.

City of Calgary officials are seeking another $609 million to cover costs of fast-tracked work to replace the Bearspaw South feeder main and to reinforce the old, aging line while that work is happening.

“Previous councils have underfunded maintenance and new capital infrastructure for the essential services like water,” Mayor Jeromy Farkas said. “It’s time that we catch up, and this is essential life-enabling services.”

It’s the first look Calgarians are getting at the price tag to upgrade the city’s water network, which saw two significant ruptures in the span of 18 months.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

“Failing to take action would put service reliability at risk, which is vital for maintaining the availability and quality of essential services,” reads a report presented to the city’s executive committee on Tuesday.

“Continued investment is needed to address vulnerabilities and ensure the system remains strong and resilient for the community.”

The cost to construct a parallel pipe, reinforce the old one and put a slip-line in totals $439 million, $71.6 million of which was previously approved in the budget for this year.

The administrative ask also includes an additional $15 million for advanced metering and $222 million to build a 22-kilometre feeder main for new and future communities in northwest Calgary.

The money being asked for on Tuesday is in addition to $1.1 billion for water infrastructure upgrade work city council already approved for 2026.

“Advancing system stabilization and redundancy work supports continued access to safe and reliable drinking water for residents, businesses, and critical institutions,” the report reads.

In addition to the $609 million in capital funding needed, officials are also asking to boost water operating expenses by $21.3 million.

To make up for the operating increase, administration is expecting residential utility costs to jump by 14 per cent in 2027, up about $17 per month.

“It seems lately there’s not a lot of good news for Calgarians (and) their pocketbooks, issues like for paying for this water pipe, for your property taxes, you name it,” said Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean.

Council as a whole will have to approve the additional spending at a meeting in the coming weeks.

The final utility rate determination won’t be made until budget discussions in November.