Report on factors behind Bearspaw feeder main break delayed to December

The City of Calgary is scheduled to receive more information in December about what caused a water feeder main to break earlier this year.

But some on council are concerned about the delay in receiving this information.

The Bearspaw south feeder main's rupture on June 5 led to ongoing water supply issues throughout the summer in Calgary, as the city underwent months of repairs.

The city's director of capital priorities and investment, Francois Bouchart, informed council on Tuesday that a review of what caused the break, and of how the city responded, will be presented to council in December.

"We're just finalizing, right now, the report with the consultant that's done that work for us, and we're actually asking them to do a little bit more so that we get a little bit greater depth of understanding before bringing it to council," Bouchart said.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek expressed concern on Tuesday about administration's lack of an update on the issue.

She noted council had been promised an incident review by the end of October, and she's disappointed council didn't receive any information about what the consultant has found so far.

"I'm very worried that we've fallen into the same trap of not coming forward with information until a full report is done,"Gondek said. 

"What we learned on June 5 after that pipe broke is that people expect information as it comes. It doesn't have to be put together in a formal report, we need to know what administration knows."

Ward 1 Councillor Sonya Sharp said she's concerned with holding budget talks in November before council knows more about how much money is needed for infrastructure repairs. 

Sharp said communities that were especially disrupted by water restrictions this year, including Bowness in her ward, are worried about future water main breaks. A recent break that closed a section of Bowness Road led to her office being inundated with messages from the community asking if this would lead to restrictions again.

"How much money are we throwing into infrastructure and are we actually solving the problem?" Sharp said.

Repairs on the Bearspaw south feeder main are still ongoing in northwest Calgary but are smaller in scope and don't require water restrictions.

Various levels of water restrictions were in place between June 5 and Sept. 22, when all restrictions were lifted. Outdoor restrictions prohibiting the use of sprinklers and water hoses, as well as a request from the city for residents to reduce indoor water use by 25 per cent, were in place when restrictions lifted.

During this time, Calgary's Glenmore Water Treatment Plant was producing approximately 70 per cent of the city's water supply, far more than the 30 per cent it typically handles during the same time period.

Bouchart also said the city is working on building greater redundancy in its water system to prepare for potential system disruptions in the future. Other city reviews are investigating how the municipality responded to the feeder main break and how it manages its critical infrastructure.