The North Calgary Water Servicing project is roughly 30 per cent over its initial budgeted cost, and it has one councillor questioning the city’s approval-friendly cost estimates.

During the July 15 discussion at the Infrastructure and Planning Committee meeting, on a Glacier Ridge growth application, councillors were told that the major water redundancy being built to serve north Calgary and Airdrie had an updated cost of $611 million.

That’s up from an initial $478 million budget amount – or a difference of $133 million.

The North Calgary Water Servicing project is a 22-kilometre water feeder main line that will provide 100 million litres per day of water initially, with flows reaching 410 ML per day once a new water treatment plant is built.

The City of Calgary said that the approved budget in 2024 included cost estimates for approximately 20 kilometres of steel feeder main and six facilities. It was an estimate at an early stage of the project, they said.

The project’s webpage said that the conceptual design of the feeder main was done in 2023, with the facilities to be completed in 2026. Preliminary design of the feeder main was done in 2024 and is in progress on some of the facilities.

“The six facilities required for the North Calgary Water Servicing project were at a concept stage, and therefore we did not have all of the details needed for the full build-out of the project,” read an email response from the city’s Infrastructure Services.

“Our current cost estimate includes 22 kilometres of steel feeder main and four additional facilities, bringing the total to 10 facilities, and has been revised to include actual costs and potential steel tariffs.”

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness said that this project was the result of the city realizing that it didn’t have appropriate redundancies in its water system.

“So, they are reacting to the failure to plan for redundancies in the system to connect to Airdrie, to connect back into the system to move water east, and that is what we’re seeing,” she said.

A portion of this cost (22 per cent) will be picked up through developers’ off-site levies. The remaining portion is financed through debt and repaid through water rates.

To date, $533 million has been approved for the project.

Water infrastructure has been a major focus for the city

Since the two Bearspaw water feeder main breaks over the past two years, Calgary city council has been focused on getting its water infrastructure up to snuff.

Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos said that this expenditure is something that needed to be done. Still, they need to look at why the budget ballooned.

“Particularly when it comes to cost overruns, I think this is just a function of when you delay these expenditures and things happen,” he said.

“So, we have to make sure from our water portfolio that we’re constantly spending, we’re constantly updating, putting the capital towards the work.”

He said that the water infrastructure capital budget alone is $1.1 billion for 2026. Even a small increase means a big potential hit to water ratepayers.

“A simple five per cent increase is $250 million That’s a 10 per cent increase in property tax, and something we have to protect against,” he said.  

“I think as our capital spend substantially grows, as it’s expected over the next 10 years, I think it’s council’s duty and obligation to make sure that we’re checking in with administration, making sure that we understand the cost completely.”

Coun. Wyness said that cost overruns have happened on too many city capital projects. She pointed to the Green Line as a prime example, along with the new police firing range.

“There is a belief that we underestimate these capital projects in government or in projects, so they get community buy-in,” she said.

“When council is looking at these capital projects, they’re not actually truly looking at what it’s going to be, and therefore voting on things with a poor cost estimation process rather than a reality-based cost estimation process.”

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that when you look at the cost increase, it takes into account the growth of both Calgary and Airdrie. He said that was a good news story.

“I’d be looking to the provincial government to be stepping up, given that we know that the City of Calgary services water not just for us here in Calgary, but also for the broader region,” he said.

“There’s an economic argument as well for providing this level of servicing to Airdrie, and that it’s not just for their local residents, but it’s potentially for other mixed-use industrial commercial purposes.”

Still, Mayor Farkas said there’s an element of accountability here that needs to be discussed.

“I’m going to be holding our city administration to account, and I’m going to be pushing a lot deeper in terms of the why and the how of this project,” he said.

A portion of the North Calgary Water Serving project will be completed in 2027 to help provide capacity for growth areas. The full line won’t be finished until 2029.