Calgary city council has unanimously approved a $609 million investment to upgrade and stabilize the city\u2019s strained water system. <\/p>\n
The motion passed 15-0 to approve a sweeping package that includes major capital projects, emergency staffing, and long\u2011term repairs to critical feeder mains.<\/p>\n
Much of the funding will go toward replacing deteriorating pipes, expanding system capacity, and ensuring crews are ready to respond quickly if another break occurs, according to officials.<\/p>\n
Mayor Jeromy Farkas said the investment is necessary after years of underfunding essential water infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis additional investment for water utility is absolutely essential,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s needed for us to catch up on the investment that\u2019s required for the replacement pipe.\u201d<\/p>\n
A significant portion of the funding, about $40 million, is earmarked for the Bearspaw South Feeder Main, both for ongoing repairs and to prepare for potential future failures. It comes as the city moves ahead with a secondary twinned replacement line.<\/p>\n
Doug Morgan, the city\u2019s general manager of operational services, said the upgrades require not only construction dollars but also trained staff to bring new infrastructure online and maintain emergency readiness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need the field staff to bring these new pieces of infrastructure online\u2026.to make sure that we\u2019ve got professional operators to turn the valves and make sure it gets integrated and can provide safe service,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that additional staffing is needed now to ensure the city can respond quickly if another major break occurs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these are resources to have backup and emergency support. Should something happen, we then have staff to mobilize, make sure we can respond and make that repair, but also keep the rest of the city running,\u201d Morgan said.<\/p>\n
Concerns over transparency, long\u2011term costs<\/p>\n
Despite unanimous support, several councillors raised concerns about how the city manages its finances and the long\u2011term implications of the spending.<\/p>\n
Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston said he supports the investment but remains uneasy about the city\u2019s financial oversight, especially after a provincial review was launched into Calgary\u2019s water system processes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now I don\u2019t trust the system. I made that very clear,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cThere\u2019s gotta be transparency on it. It\u2019s not the dollar amount to me that is bad, it\u2019s how it\u2019s being spent.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he wants council to ask more detailed questions ahead of upcoming budget discussions.<\/p>\n
Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal said the urgency of the situation leaves little room for hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s any other option. If someone tells me there\u2019s another option where this pipe won\u2019t break for another 20 years, I\u2019m happy not to support it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Farkas emphasized that Calgary taxpayers will not shoulder the full cost. Surrounding communities including Tsuut\u2019ina, Strathmore, Chestermere, and Airdrie, will also share in the funding because they rely on Calgary\u2019s water system.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, this is an unfortunate but necessary investment that we have to make,\u201d Farkas said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calgary city council has unanimously approved a $609 million investment to upgrade and stabilize the city\u2019s strained water…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-544054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-calgary","10":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}