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A week after an independent panel presented a review that pointed to failings within Calgary’s water system, the provincial government has announced it will do its own review of the system.
It comes as the city says the water restrictions Calgarians have faced since the Dec. 30 water main break could be lifted as soon as this weekend.
Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams shared on social media a letter he sent to Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas Wednesday about the city’s response to the second catastrophic break of the same feeder main in two years.
In his letter, Williams said he is “concerned about implications for the capacity of municipal services, and the confidence that Calgarians may have in the city’s ability to sustain this essential service.”
Williams said he understands the city is working hard to restore water service as soon as possible, and that it has taken steps to review the 2024 water main break, including the recent independent review.
But he said he believes Calgarians have valid concerns that another break of the Bearspaw south feeder main might be possible — something the city has admitted is very much a possibility — and that he has a responsibility as minister to intervene to protect the public interest.
The pipe transmits 60 per cent of the treated water used by those in the city and in surrounding municipalities.
It has ruptured twice in less than two years, forcing water restrictions on residents.
Decades worth of documents requested
Williams is requesting information on the city’s water main infrastructure, including all relevant documents materials since the 2004 McKnight feeder main break.
That includes all of the documentation provided to the independent review panel, council and committee minutes and records, media reports of council decisions and detailed plans on the pipe’s technology, installation, operation and monitoring systems.
During the city’s water main update Wednesday, Farkas said he has been in constant contact with the province throughout this latest water crisis, including a meeting in recent days with Williams.
Farkas said in his latest conversation with Williams, he expressed the city’s willingness to provide “any and all documentations” the province might be seeking.
“From a general transparency standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to me to provide as much documentation as possible to the public,” Farkas said.
Williams wants the documents handed over by Jan. 27.
Kerry Black said she does not think there are still outstanding questions that another review could answer.
“I find it a bit surprising,” said Black, a civil engineering professor at the University of Calgary.
“[It’s] curious as to what exactly they might be looking for.”
Black said the focus now should not be on pointing fingers, but on providing funds and resources to upgrade Calgary’s water infrastructure.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said after this most recent water main break that the province might consider imposing oversight over Calgary’s water system, and future funding could be tied to that provincial oversight.
In its report last week, the independent review panel said the risk the Bearspaw feeder main could fail was first identified in 2004, after the McKnight break. But the report said in the years that followed, the city repeatedly deferred inspecting the main.
The City of Calgary says crews are slowly filling the feeder main with water and stabilizing the system, after tests confirmed the water in the pipe is safe to drink.
Michael Thompson, Calgary’s general manager of infrastructure services, says restrictions could be lifted by the weekend. Until then, Calgarians are still being asked to take shorter showers and limit flushes to avoid straining the system.