There has been some decrease in water usage thus far in Calgary, but city officials are asking citizens to go a step further to deal with a critical water shortage.

The shortage is still related to the ongoing water feeder main break along 16 Avenue NW in the Bowness area. Storage is being depleted around the city, according to officials, as citizens are drawing nearly 20 per cent more water than the city can produce.

The information was provided in a Friday afternoon news conference and livestream update on the situation.

Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry thanked Calgarians for the steps they’ve taken up to this point to reduce water consumption.

“Although we have seen at various points throughout the day a decrease in that water usage, we can do more, and we need to do more,” Chief Henry said.

Thus far, Henry said there have been more than 170 calls to bylaw enforcement, and they are do their best to educate people on the need to reduce water usage. She said most of the complaints have been around people watering their lawns or using automated sprinkler systems.   Extra enforcement will be out over the weekend.

“If you have an automated sprinkler system, disable it or consider shutting it off at the tap,” Henry said.

Meanwhile, Water Services director Nancy Mackay said that they’ve open up the area on both sides of the damaged pipe.

“We can now pump out that remaining water, expose the rest of the pipe, so we can finalize our repair plans,” said Mackay.

“This is good news, but I want to tell you it’s still going to take days in order for us to make that repair and get that back in into service. There’s still a need for conservation.”

Right now, the City of Calgary is drawing 610 million litres of water, while only producing 520 million litres, largely coming from one of two water treatment plants.

Conservation effort expands throughout the region

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek underscored the need for Calgarians to reduce their water where possible.

She said that this is the feeder main that helps supply 23 large reservoirs that house much of the water supplying Calgary communities.

“As we are drawing down on those tanks, that’s where we’re going to get to a point where we run out of water if we don’t start practicing some conservation,” she said.

“We’re in the midst of a significant water supply challenge, and it requires a unified effort from all of us.”

That includes the City of Airdrie, which gets its water from Calgary’s supply. They, too, have taken measures to reduce their water supply among citizens. Mayor Peter Brown said he was quite surprised to learn today that most Airdrie residents don’t know their water comes from Calgary.

“So, I just want to remind everybody, we’re all in this together, and make sure that when we’re doing anything, this is such a critical time that every drop counts,” he said.

“The City of Airdrie followed all the same Calgary’s lead in closing, our pools, our arenas, recreation facilities, outdoor spaces until such time as this situation has been rectified. The city, obviously, is also taking a lead. We’re not watering any plants, grass, trees, nothing. Everything’s shut down.”

Chief Henry said that some areas of the city may see less water pressure than typical. She assured citizens that the water is still exceeding what’s required for water quality.

There is still a boil water advisory in place for Bowness, and Stage 4 Water Restrictions in place for the rest of the City of Calgary (no outdoor watering for any purpose).

Mackay said that this is a case of total overall water volume, and that delaying dishwashers or laundry loads isn’t going to help in the interim.