{"id":717538,"date":"2026-06-05T20:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/717538\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T20:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:34:08","slug":"calgary-proposes-more-than-340-million-to-fix-drinking-water-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/717538\/","title":{"rendered":"Calgary proposes more than $340-million to fix drinking water infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Crews work to repair a major water main break and five other weak spots in Calgary, in June, 2024.Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Calgary is proposing to spend more than $340-million to fix its aging drinking water system, after catastrophic infrastructure failures and criticism over a lack of planning. The city said it hopes the province will provide its \u201cfair share\u201d of funding.<\/p>\n

In a report to the city\u2019s infrastructure and planning committee Tuesday, officials proposed spending $342-million between 2027 and 2030, nearly doubling the $168-million spent from 2023 till now.<\/p>\n

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said water infrastructure is easy to take for granted until it fails, and described the increase as a critical investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalgarians have already paid to collect, to treat, to pump, so we know that the return on investment for leak detection, for fixing our pipes, is there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The proposed budget increase comes after burst pipes caused major disruptions in service over the past two years that led to restrictions on water usage and localized boil water advisories for thousands of residents. <\/p>\n

The June, 2024<\/a> and December, 2025 ruptures in the Bearspaw South Feeder Main, just a kilometre apart, flooded nearby streets and put aging water infrastructure in one of Canada\u2019s biggest water systems under intense scrutiny. <\/p>\n

City of Calgary ignored two decades of warning signs about water system, report finds<\/a><\/p>\n

An independent panel of experts found the city ignored vulnerabilities in the water system, with the issues deemed a result of repeated underinvestment in system infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The Alberta<\/a> government has been highly critical of past municipal leaders in the city, including now NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, who was Calgary mayor from 2010 until 2021, saying water infrastructure has been neglected under successive administrations. The province appointed an investigator<\/a> in March to examine how Calgary oversees its water system, but have not provided any updates on the findings.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s report<\/a> by the city calls for $172-million \u2013 $110-million more than in the previous budget \u2013 toward improving water-metering infrastructure and flow-monitoring programs, both of which are intended to prevent leaks before they happen and reduce response time once they start.<\/p>\n

Water main replacement is the other big-ticket item. In 2025, the city replaced nearly eight kilometres of pipe, with plans to increase that to 15 kilometres in 2027, maintaining that level for each of the next four years. <\/p>\n

These improvements are intended to reduce Calgary\u2019s treated water loss rate from 23 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030. Water loss refers to \u201cthe difference between how much water is treated, and how much is measured and billed through customer meters,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Emergency crews check the damage on the Trans-Canada Highway from a reported water main break in Calgary, in December, 2025.Todd Korol\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Ryan Kidd, the city\u2019s deputy director of drinking water, said the improvements are just a starting point, with a goal of reaching 10 per cent of treated water lost. Mr. Kidd said 10 per cent is typically the \u201csweet spot,\u201d with more funding required to reduce leakage further.<\/p>\n

Calgary\u2019s water infrastructure is not tax-supported, with capital and operational expenses for the utility paid by ratepayers. The final budget for the infrastructure will depend on what rate increases city council approves.<\/p>\n

Depending on the approved rate, the city would change priorities, Mr. Kidd said.<\/p>\n

Not all the costs may fall on the ratepayer, as the city intends to ask the province for funding. Mr. Farkas said Calgary has been closely collaborating with the province on emergency response to the water main bursts. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly hope that Calgary would be receiving its fair share of provincial investments, especially given that the province has set the precedent of investing in municipal water utilities,\u201d he said, pointing to $50-million given by Alberta for wastewater expansion in Airdrie.<\/p>\n

Editorial Board: A corrosion of leadership in Calgary<\/a><\/p>\n

Jack Alarie, press secretary to Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams, said in an e-mailed statement that municipalities are responsible for their own infrastructure and how tax dollars are spent, and that the province does provide support through a funding mechanism called the Local Government Fiscal Framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalgarians have, for decades, been paying property taxes and water utility rates that they reasonably expect the city to have spent on maintaining this infrastructure,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Caleb Spassov, a spokesperson with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, wrote in an e-mailed statement that the federal government supports infrastructure to provide clean drinking water and maintain reliable water service. <\/p>\n

The statement referenced the Build Canada Strong Fund, which could make $1.9-billion in funding available for local and regional infrastructure projects in Alberta over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n

Myke Atkinson, councillor for Calgary\u2019s Ward 7, expects the city to apply for funding from all levels of government. Residents in his part of the city were affected by the December, 2025 water main break. <\/p>\n

Mr. Atkinson said the city\u2019s report outlines a solid plan, but the past 20 years of underinvestment may mean the increase won\u2019t be enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn investment like this puts us back into replacing the infrastructure that\u2019s needed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Crews work to repair a major water main break and five other weak…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-717538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717538","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=717538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}