A debate is underway in Calgary after city council voted in favour of pushing up water rates.
City administration says more money is needed for ageing water infrastructure, and mayor Jeromy Farkas says the city can’t afford to put off that investment.
“If we do not raise our water rates now, we are in the version of the ‘crapocalypse’. We cannot commit to Calgarians that when they flush their toilets that their stuff will go away if we do not properly fund our essential infrastructure.”
However, not everyone on council is convinced Calgarians should have to foot the bill.
Councillor Dan McLean says, “Well, I understand that the water pipes in our infrastructure has been neglected for a long, long time but.. We received a letter from the chamber commerce saying the same thing that I was saying. We should be looking at other options before putting this extremely heavy burden, not only on businesses but homeowners.”
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce says the water bill for a typical small restaurant is projected to rise about 86 per cent by 2030.
Kama owner Kenny Kaechele points to his industrial dishwasher.
“If we want clean dishes we have to be running this machine pretty much continuously day and night. Many, many litres of water being cycled through here and this would be the big culprit as far as using water in the restaurant.”
He adds their water charge is higher by about three times than natural gas.
Meanwhile, Farkas was sending a message Tuesday about water, power, and artificial intelligence centres.
He says he’s working with colleagues on a moratorium on applications for large AI data centres until new rules are in place governing such operations.
I am working with Councillor Wyness and colleagues to restrict and regulate large AI data centre applications, including a moratorium until clear rules can be established. We welcome investment — but we must protect our water supply and electricity grid, and ensure developers… pic.twitter.com/l2cRwPOv1D
— Jeromy (Pathfinder) Farkas (@JeromyYYC) October 27, 2026
He says while investment is welcomed, “we must protect our water supply and electricity grid, and ensure developers pay their own way.”
FILE – Water from the tap. (Peter Dworschak/CityNews)
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