A few more days of water use restraint is all that’s needed to get Calgary through the latest Bearspaw South feeder main break, Mayor Jeromy Farkas said.
He made the comments during a Monday afternoon briefing with the media, as the repair and reintroduction to service of the beleaguered water feeder main is nearly complete.
Road repairs have largely been completed with a covering of temporary asphalt, according to Infrastructure Services GM Michael Thompson, and safety measures, including reintroduction of barriers and cleaning up 16 Avenue NW, still need to be done before reopening.
“I also should mention we will have to come back in the spring and remove that temporary asphalt that we put down on Sunday and pave that road completely in the spring, once the temperatures are better,” he said.
“So, this is a temporary patch to get us through to the spring.”
Meanwhile, filling and testing of the refilled Bearspaw South feeder main is underway, and that’s expected to take a couple more days.
After dropping from the red ‘unsustainable’ levels into the yellow ‘strained’ area, Calgarians were back up to unsustainable in water use for Jan. 9, according to the City of Calgary.
Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry also reiterated to residents in Montgomery that community protection measures are being put in place in the area. Temporary barriers are being installed, catch basins are being cleared, river outflows opened and select manhole covers are being replaced to allow for greater flow.
“I want to reassure people that seeing mitigation activities in their neighbourhoods that this isn’t about expecting another break, but it’s about being prepared for one,” she said.
“We are not waiting and we are not taking chances. Every decision we are making and every plan we have is centered around protecting the community.”
‘We still need you’: Mayor Farkas
Mayor Farkas said that though they’re progressing towards the reintroduction of services, there’s a “real chance” that it could break again.
“That’s why, Calgary, we still need you,” he said.
“Even if it feels like we’re close, and we are, we need you to stay in conservation mode for just a little bit longer, because every litre we save right now gives our crews more time and more room to stabilize the system, and it helps protect things like fire response, like hospital capacity and our ability to respond if something goes wrong.”
Farkas also responded to questions on whether the recent independent Bearspaw review took too long and revealed relatively little that was new. Over the weekend, Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness had posted to social media that the initial call for an independent review first came from former Mayor Jyoti Gondek on June 13.
Wyness said that an independent review was initiated with a final report expected in October of 2024. A panel chair wasn’t selected until Dec. 2024, and then a report a year later. She also pointed out the City’s internal review, the Associated Engineering third-party review and then one done by APEGA, the regulatory body for engineers in Alberta.
“Why did it take a fourth review in 18 months to complete essentially a summary of the preceding reports – and with a budget of up to $2 million for the equivalent of an AI summary? This feels absurd,” she posted.
“The only new information presented was a recommendation to carve out the water and sewer assets of The City into a separate corporation, and to remove all elected official oversight.”
Mayor Farkas said he welcomed a robust conversation and debate from council colleagues on learning from the past to ensure this doesn’t happen again. He said the previous reviews were internal and amounted to the City of Calgary checking its own work.
“Obviously, there’s some debate and discussions in terms of resourcing, timing, how the recommendations are implemented, but at the end of the day, our council is very united in terms of wanting Calgary’s water utility to be accountable, to be well run, cost-effective, safe,” he said.
Wyness said that in a crisis, the City of Calgary shouldn’t be taking any action without doing the proper due diligence. Farkas said they can’t move fast enough.
“There is no such thing as moving too quickly on getting Calgary’s water supply back to safety and reliability,” he said.
