$609M needed to strengthen Calgary's aging water system: report

Calgary's ongoing, accelerated work to strengthen its water system will need more than $600 million in additional funding, a new city report recommended.

City council's executive committee received a progress report Tuesday from city officials about Calgary's efforts to repair the Bearspaw south feeder main and build a replacement pipe.

It recommended council approve a $609.5 million increase to the city's capital budget to complete the project.

It also called for a $21.3 million hike to the city's operating budget that would fund more frontline crews, as well as inspection and monitoring of the Bearspaw and improved emergency preparedness.

The total result of the new cash for Calgary's water system wouldn't change utility rates for residents this year.

But city officials project the typical Calgary resident could pay up to $17 more per month on a current $120 monthly bill, an increase of roughly 14 per cent.

Calgary's executive committee voted 7-0 to accept administration's recommendations and forward the report to a March 17 public council meeting.

In the wake of a pair of catastrophic breaks to the Bearspaw south feeder main in the span of 18 months that led to significant flooding and water restrictions, Mayor Jeromy Farkas stressed the necessity of completing construction on the Bearspaw by the end of the year.

“We can’t keep going back to Calgarians every summer with these water restrictions related to the maintenance of the pipe,” Farkas said. 

“It’s honestly embarrassing for us, as a city of almost two million people, that we cannot rely on safe drinking water. We need to fix this, and we can’t spare any expense to get this done.”

The $609-million price tag to repair the Bearspaw is good value, Farkas said, to future-proof the water main for the next 100 years.

He added he believed Calgarians would accept an increase to their utility bills, as long as it’s clear what they’re getting in return.

In this case, Farkas said the funding will also help improve leak detection to save even more water that’s typically lost within the system.

The additional capital funding would also go toward fast-tracking the North Calgary Water Servicing project, which is designed to construct a 22-kilometre water feeder main and support facilities for the city's northwest, and to introduce more advanced water metres.