Workers were busy fencing off a long section of 16 Avenue NW early Wednesday, in a scene that more resembled the aftermath of an earthquake instead of a water main break.

Abandoned cars littered the roadway, and asphalt rippled for more than 200 metres, creating rifts and chasms that made the area impassable by vehicle.

City of Calgary officials confirmed a “catastrophic break” at a location along 16 Avenue NW right in front of the Rona on 68 Street, on the same Bearspaw South feeder main.

It’s the same stretch of precast concrete pipe that was repaired after a similar catastrophic rupture in multiple locations in the summer and fall of 2024. Officials did say, however, that the new break location is roughly 500 metres from any prior repaired hotspot.

Nancy McKay, director of water services with the City of Calgary, said that they were able to quickly pinpoint the break location, and water flow has been stopped to the area. Officials were alerted to the break after a significant drop in water pressure.

She said adjustments were made to water flow paths to ensure Calgarians had access to water.

“Based on, certainly our learnings from last time, we’ve had to make emergency adjustments, and we are able to move we’re able to move water differently within our network, to flow water from our smaller Glenmore Water Treatment Plant throughout the city,” she said.

“We are looking at doing more of that as best we can to get water to where it’s needed.”

Infrastructure officials said that acoustic, fibre-optic monitoring was being done on the pipe, as was prescribed after the prior break.

“There was nothing in the monitoring or in the operation of the pipe, the flows, the pressures that would have indicated an issue before the pressure dropped at the control room,” said Chris Graham, leader of utility asset management planning with the City of Calgary.

Crews are preparing to dig up the affected pipe to determine the next steps in repair for that location, according to McKay.

Accountability is key: Mayor Farkas

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that they have three immediate priorities: No loss of life and ensuring safe and clean drinking water, making all resources available to first responders, and finally ensuring accountability that appropriate steps are being taken to prevent future issues like this from happening again.

“We know that we have aging infrastructure, and we’ve learned some very significant lessons as a city around fixes, around communications, as well as in particular, how we can better best support residences and especially impacted businesses through this,” Farkas told reporters during a Dec. 31 media conference.

He said he’s been in contact with provincial officials, including Premier Danielle Smith, along with Calgary MP Corey Hogan.

Farkas said that given the prior experience in 2024, the city is much further ahead in dealing with this feeder main break. Still, accountability for a repeat of the 2024 water disaster is critical, he said.

“I’m a Calgarian just like everybody else. it is extremely frustrating to see this happen to our city again. Our council is united in taking bold action on this,” he said.

“We are going to be taking those steps necessary to be able to address the redundancy (of the feeder main). We have about 60 per cent of Calgary’s water goes through this main line. We are working hard to action that as well as hold our city administration accountable, to ensure that the steps from the independent report are actioned.”

To that end, Chief Administrative Officer David Duckworth took the podium and shouldered the blame.

“I just wanted to say that my team and I personally are 100 per cent accountable. We’re accountable for this break.

“We’re accountable for infrastructure. We’re accountable all the services that we provide to Calgarians.”

Duckworth did say that they know the Bearspaw feeder main needs to be replaced. Designs are being worked on and they’re recruiting a contractor to start the replacement work.

“It’s going to take some time,” he said.

Stage 4 water restrictions and neighbourhood frustrations

Alberta Health Services and the City of Calgary said that a boil water advisory remains in effect for the areas of Point McKay, Parkdale and Montgomery. All residents and businesses in those areas are being asked to bring water to a rolling boil for one minute for essential things like drinking, brushing teeth, cleaning raw foods, preparing infant formula and more.

The Emergency Operations Centre was opened, and the city’s Municipal Emergency Plan was activated. Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry said that water wagons are being deployed in areas affected by the water outage.

“I want to take a moment to recognize that this event, given our recent history, may cause stress for a lot of Calgarians, while we do not have all of the answers. Today, our teams are working around the clock to protect Calgarians, to protect our water system to keep it safe and flowing and to restore services as quickly as we can,” Henry said.

With the Stage 4 restrictions, flooding outdoor rinks, snow making and other large consumption outdoor activities are prohibited. Indoor facilities are being asked to implement water saving measures.

Calgarians across the city, and residents of surrounding communities who receive Calgary’s water supply, are being asked to watch their water consumption by limiting showers, reduce toilet flushes and only run dishwashers and washing machines at full capacity.

It’s expected there will be a further technical briefing outlining the extent of the damage and what repairs are anticipated within the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, Mayor Farkas said that Calgarians can still ring in the New Year Wednesday evening.

“Right now we’re aware that it’s New Year’s Eve, and while we’re asking folks to take responsible voluntary measures, we want you to have that confidence to be able to bring in 2026 as we take these voluntary measures, we will be continuing to inform and educate the public about the impact and the severity of the break,” he said.