Mayor Jeromy Farkas joined the Beckler & Seanna show by phone this morning for an update on Calgary’s ongoing water main issues, and while there’s definite progress, he says we’re not quite there yet.
The repair work on 16th Avenue is nearly complete and the Bearspaw feeder main is being refilled, which Farkas says puts us in the position to ease out of those restrictions in the next couple of days. However, we are still not in the “sustainable zone” and the city is asking residents to continue taking water-conserving measures like shorter showers and fewer flushes. And it sounds like water restrictions could be an ongoing reality now.
“I really want to be clear with Calgarians; this is a ticking time bomb underneath our streets so until we actually replace this Bearspaw feeder main, it could just as well break tomorrow, next week, next month”, Farkas said. “We’ve got to build a brand new pipe, but in the meantime – the next say 12 to 18 months – this is something that we’re gonna have to be able to live with.”
While Calgary has been asked to limit residential water use, some Calgarians have complained about commercial and industrial water use and how it’s seemingly “business-as-usual” for those users. Farkas said the city has focused on working with the top 200 industrial water consumers. He pointed out that 70% of water use is residential, and that the rapid growth of the city has presented challenges.
“One of the biggest differences from this break to the last one is that the Calgary area is grown by almost 200,000 people so when we think about just how many more people are in Calgary, our margin for error is a hell of a lot less today than it was, say, a year and a half ago.”
Farkas invited anyone with concerns to contact his office by email – themayor@calgary.ca.
If you want to listen to Mayor Jeromy Farkas joining the show, you can hear it on the latest episode of The Beckler and Seanna podcast here:
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