Calgary water use at all-time low; significant repairs made on main break prompt partial 16 Ave NW reopening

The City of Calgary says significant repair progress has been made on the main break, and residents can expect construction 24 hours a day for the remaining hotspots until it’s complete.

The city declared a local state of emergency on Saturday after it said it would take 3-5 weeks to repair the feedermain pipe and for water flow to normalize, leading to longer water restrictions. The city says this is due to five issues found on the feedermain.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said in the afternoon update that 16 Avenue, where the break happened, will be partially reopened at 11 p.m.; the robotic review initially planned for Monday finished on Sunday with no additional hotspots found; and construction on those hotspots will start on Monday.

“We are now focused on knocking off the other five,” Gondek said. “The work on those will happen at the same time.”

She says the city has been meeting with six local companies, which are Standard General, Volker Stevin, Whissell Contracting, LBCO Contracting, Associated Engineering and Pure Technologies.

Gondek also says the city will be meeting with other sectors, including heavy construction and technology, to discuss other ideas to help.

16 Avenue NW partial reopening

CEMA Chief Sue Henry says the eastbound lanes of 16 Avenue NW will reopen, while the westbound lanes of 16 Avenue from 49 Street to Home Road will remain closed. Eastbound lanes will be opened into a two-way single-lane traffic setup.

Both directions of 16 Avenue from 46 Avenue and 45 Street will be closed, along with both directions from 43 Street to Bowness Road. Traffic going east and west will be detoured onto Bowness Road, with Henry saying to expect delays.

“We know this will add traffic congestion, and you need to expect delays if you are moving through this area. However, these closures are a positive step in the right direction towards restoring the water service,” Henry said.

“We are moving quickly. We know the urgency you feel to get back to normal as quickly as possible. And I can assure you that our teams feel that too. We’re making all the efforts to bring you back to normal service as quickly and as safely as we can.”

Repair progress made on feedermain

Calgary Capital Priorities and Investments Director Francois Bouchard says the initial break has seen significant progress on the repairs.

He says repair progress was made on Saturday, and water has been drained from the spot following the rainfall Saturday night, backfilling, and moving equipment from the site.

“This is a major milestone in our response to this drastic break,” Bouchard said. “But the work and continuous collaboration is not yet done.”

Bouchard explained previously that the city has all the parts needed for the repairs, with three pieces in Calgary that will be prepped for installation, and the remaining two that will be shipped from the U.S. in the coming week.

One of those is coming from the San Diego Water Authority, which shared a photo with the city, which was posted on X.

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“I personally want to thank San Diego County Water Authority for helping us out,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard says repairing the damaged sections is a top priority, and initial inspections and site prep work are already underway. Construction is slated to begin on Monday.

He says residents in the area may be visited by the city who will have updated information on construction. He also says residents will notice increased construction activities during the development of the staging area, heavy equipment and construction vehicles, and noise.

“Crews will be working 24 hours a day and will attempt to mitigate noise throughout the night. We are actively looking at ways to speed up the work while focusing on health, safety and the quality of work,” Bouchard said.

“As a reminder, Calgarians, we are working around the clock to finish this work and restore normal water operation.”

Calgary water use hits ‘all-time low’

Gondek said in the 8:30 a.m. update that Calgarians brought water use down to an “all-time low” of 436 million litres on Saturday, lower than on June 8, which was at 440 million litres.

“I am very happy to report that Calgarians are listening and understanding that we are going to be in a prolonged period of needing to conserve water,” Gondek said.

“I cannot thank you enough for taking that call to action seriously.”

She also says the water supply is at 648 million litres, a hefty amount for emergencies, adding that Calgarians are keeping up and will continue to do their part.

“For all of your efforts, you are very good humans, especially when you consider that a lot of haters and deniers are saying that ‘You’ll give up, you’ll get sick of all of this, and you won’t do your part.’ I have much more faith in all of you than that,” she said.

She also reminds Calgarians that the city is operating at 50 per cent of its water supply as it relies on the south Glenmore Water Treatment Plant.

Gondek also made several remarks about conserving water in relation to Father’s Day, but she also said her father told her to “Do it like you mean it,” as a form of advice.

“So Calgary and surrounding area, I’m asking you to save water like you mean it because it matters. It matters a lot and I can see that you are doing your best to help us all get through this situation and it is greatly appreciated,” she said.

Stage 4 outdoor watering restrictions remain in place, same with a fire ban. Gondek said on Saturday that no indoor water restrictions are planned at this time, but that Calgarians should “understand that outdoor water restrictions are in place.”

‘If it’s yellow it’s mellow’: Tips to reduce water use

Natural Environment and Adaptation Manager Nicole Newton asked Calgarians to reduce water use by 25 per cent, or the city will run out of water.

“We are in a state of local emergency and it’s critical to continue to hit our water target. If we regularly exceed … this target of 25 per cent, we will run out of water,” she said.

“This means when you turn on your tap, no water will come out. We all must make every drop count.”

She listed several tips to keep water use down, which can be found here.

Newton also said Calgarians should adopt the “if it’s yellow, it’s mellow, and if it’s brown, flush it down” routine. She says eliminating a single flush a day can save six litres of water.

“Collectively as a city … we could save three Olympic swimming-sized pools or approximately 450,000 of these five-gallon jugs,” she said, referring to the blue five-gallon water jugs.

“Turn off your water softener. This can save approximately 200 litres every time it cycles. That’s roughly 10 of the blue five-gallon water jugs.”

Newton says shortening a shower from five minutes to three minutes can save 20 litres of water, which she says is equivalent to roughly one blue gallon jug every day.

She also says a small stream of water from a faucet can waste over 15,000 litres monthly, which is equivalent to 2,000 five-gallon jugs.

Henry said Sunday that 6,214 calls had been made to 311, and 1,895 of them were for water misuse. She says the majority of those calls have been resolved and 54 remain open.

The city says officers have issued over 1,000 warnings, 638 verbal warnings and 537 written warnings, along with two tickets to contractors associated with construction work.

She adds that 334 fire ban calls have been made, a large increase from Saturday’s 220, with 18 remaining open, and there are no wait times for 311. The 311 app is being encouraged as an alternative, along with visiting the website and submitting an online request.

No clear timeline on Calgary Stampede impact

The Sunday updates come amid widespread concern on social media about the Calgary Stampede and other popular events potentially being derailed, as the timeline could extend through the 10-day event, the largest in Alberta.

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce also voiced a need for urgent matters with the Stampede weeks away, saying Saturday that more guidance and clarity from the city are needed to ensure water usage is “decreased sufficiently to avoid potential restrictions.”

“The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated,” said Deborah Yedlin, the president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, in a statement. “We strongly encourage the City to mitigate disruptions to ensure our visitor economy and international reputation are unhindered by the current crisis.

“Generating $540 million in economic impact, the Stampede is a critical time for businesses across several sectors, and any interruptions could have substantial economic repercussions. This is particularly acute for tourism and hospitality sectors that are still working to make up for several challenging years through the pandemic.”

The mayor said officials from the Stampede will join city staff in an update at 2 p.m. Monday.

“We can figure out the practices that they are going to undertake to make sure they’re limiting their water use as well, just like the rest of us,” she said.

In the meantime, Gondek says the city needs more time to collect more information and to “look at the numbers.”

“We need some more time to look at water usage mapping throughout our city and the region. We need to talk to our partner organizations and businesses to make sure they understand what they can do to reduce water usage, and we need to understand better the timeline for restoring the Bearspaw Water Treatment facilities flow back into our system,” she said.

Other options are also being considered, Gondek said, like using overland pipes to get water from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant into the various places that need it. However, she says these are “backup plans” under consideration at this time.

“We can’t make these types of significant decisions based on gut instinct alone. Let’s give the City Emergency Operations team the next few days to collect the information they need,” she said.

“Let’s give them time to brainstorm with other professionals to see what can be done to restore our water supply to regular usage and get that water pumping at 100 per cent capacity.”

The Calgary Stampede reiterated the statement it shared Friday, saying it will “continue to work with our partners at the City of Calgary and the Calgary Emergency Management Agency as this situation evolves.”

Calgary, Airdrie, Strathmore, and Chestermere have been under mandatory and voluntary water restriction rules since the Bearspaw feedermain ruptured in the Bowness area on June 5. If the city exceeds the threshold of 480 million litres, the city won’t be able to maintain demand and the water supply will eventually run out.

Updates will continue daily at 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. until the issue is resolved.

This story has been updated with the latest information. Listen to CityNews 660 for up-to-date coverage.