Lack of funding, inadequate processes, and poor management and governance were identified as contributing factors to a problem that had been two decades in the making, according to the Bearspaw feeder main independent review panel.
The review, released Wednesday after a nine-month investigation following the June 2024 rupture, provides a scathing analysis of the bungled management of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main (BPSFM), Calgary’s most critical water thoroughfare.
The report begins by contextualizing the lead-up to the June 2024 break, noting that the risk of failure in prestressed concrete cylinder pipe was first identified by the City of Calgary in 2004, with the burst of the McKnight feeder main.
“Subsequent studies and assessments repeatedly confirmed the risk to the BPSFM,” the report reads.
“Despite repeated identification of this risk, the City prioritized other critical needs and initiatives, repeatedly deferring BPSFM inspection, monitoring, and risk mitigation. This deferral was a function of underestimated likelihood of failure, not appreciating the significant impact of a failure, emphasis on other priorities and occasional periods of operating budget constraints.”
Twice in the past two years, Calgarians have had to endure water quality challenges, along with citywide water restrictions as a result of the June 2024 rupture, and the most recent one, which happened along 16 Avenue NW on Dec. 30.
The independent review panel, chaired by Siegfried Kiefer, and including industry experts Michael Crothers, Gordon Engbloom, Nancy Foster, Bob Kerr and Stephen Stanley, indicated that the report was completed before the Dec. 30 incident, and it was not part of the report.
“While this report was written prior to that event, the Panel believes that the recommendations remain relevant,” it reads.
As part of the review, water utility staff and city administration were engaged, and external experts conducted detailed document reviews, interviews and workshops to examine the immediate causes and systemic factors, the report read.
Factors leading to the ‘catastrophic” failure of the Bearspaw South feeder main
The review panel’s report acknowledges the impact of nationwide underinvestment in infrastructure, along with overall aging infrastructure and rapid population growth. They cited a Statistics Canada report that suggested 27 per cent of municipal water mains need repair.
“In Calgary, these pressures were particularly acute due to rapid population growth (a 70% increase since 20006) and higher asset capital and maintenance costs (due to low population density, resulting in a large relative asset base), the report read.
“These external pressures exacerbated the risk and integrity challenges that ultimately affected the BPSFM.”
The risk and asset integrity processes were also targeted in the report, with it noting that despite handling 60 per cent of Calgary’s potable water supply, “was repeatedly recognized as a high consequence risk but deprioritized due to its perceived low likelihood of failure, which caused resources to be directed to other priorities.
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The final aspect examined the management and governance of the water utility, with process gaps persisting over two decades, and no clear accountability or financial transparency.
“These gaps exist within today’s organization structure, wherein the Water Utility is split across multiple City departments leaving no single leader accountable for end-to-end outcomes,” the report reads.
“In the absence of a single accountable executive, decisions were often delayed or deprioritized, compounded by a consensus-driven culture that normalized deferral of action on critical issues.”
It goes on to say that the gaps existed across multiple management teams and successive councils, with only periodic and high-level reporting to Calgary city council.
“As a result, many critical decisions were never surfaced to Council (i.e., changes to system redundancy standards that carried major implications for system reliability) and those that did (i.e., shift in rate structure) were made without the expert scrutiny typical of a regulated critical infrastructure utility, further contributing to a lack of accountability,” the report concluded.
Recommendations from the independent panel
Immediately, the panel recommends that a task force be created to address the risk that exists on the weakened pipe and make proactive repairs and reinforcements. It also suggested contingency planning to manage “multiple successive BPSFM breaks” while reservoirs are low in winter, and reducing Glenmore Reservoir outflows, temporary surface lines and alternate water routings.
They also suggest acceleration of a steel pipe duplication of the affected area.
Based on recent City of Calgary briefings, much of this work is already underway.
The panel’s near-term recommendations include strengthening risk management and asset integrity processes, reinforced by management accountability and oversight.
“Ultimately, the Panel recommends a model wherein the Water Utility would become a separate legal entity wholly owned by The City, governed by an independent expert Board of Directors, and maintaining public accountability through City ownership,” it read.
Outside of that, given that there’s already major project work being undertaken by City of Calgary water services, it suggested that a dedicated utility department with separate financial statements be created.
That would be followed by an independent expert water utility oversight board.
“This level of independent expertise is common for critical infrastructure and its unique challenges, including distinct financial requirements (as a regulated utility), provision of an essential service that is core to public health, multi-decade planning horizons, and highly technical content,” the report reads.
“The WUOB will be independent of the potential politicization of decision-making, which can be misaligned with the long-range planning and funding needed for the Water Utility.”
Calgary city council will hear from the panel at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
