A catastrophic rupture in Calgary’s most critical water artery on June 5 has left one of Canada’s largest cities parched for much of this month.
With the major feeder shut down, the water system for 1.7 million people is operating at about half its normal capacity.
On Friday, the crisis escalated, with Calgary officials announcing that five “hot spots” will have to be repaired before the water system can resume normal operations. Mayor Jyoti Gondek declared a formal state of emergency over the weekend.
What was supposed to be a repair job of a week or so wrapping up in mid-June has instead become a marathon that could stretch into mid-July – overlapping the city’s premier tourist event, the Calgary Stampede. Calgarians could be living with significant restrictions on water use, both voluntary and mandatory, for weeks.
If reservoir levels drop too much, further measures could be put in place. Bluntly, municipal officials have said there’s a risk that the taps run dry without the continued significant curtailment of water use by city households and businesses.
In just over two weeks, the Stampede kicks off. The rodeo and exhibition will still go ahead, officials said Monday.
But organizers are planning to bring treated water in from outside sources – and the city is asking the tens of thousands of visitors that will soon descend to “take your laundry home.”
All of that serves to underscore the challenges that Calgarians face in the coming month. This is a time when taking ultrashort showers, or holding off on flushing the toilet, have become civic virtues, even duties. But as Calgarians are taking a crash summer course in water conservation and being asked to adhere to severe water restrictions, they need more transparency and better communication from their municipal leaders.
Ms. Gondek has been in front of the camera every day for nearly two weeks. She has been strong in referring to the innovative ways Calgarians have cut their daily use (watering plants with the water used to cook pasta, for one).
But there have been missteps. The mayor initially tried to introduce high-level politicking to the emergency by blaming the province and federal government more broadly for infrastructure challenges. She had to apologize in those early days, and pledged regularly scheduled updates.
That promise of transparency is critical in any crisis, but doubly so in Calgary’s situation where avoiding the worst outcome of a sudden water shortage depends on the actions of hundreds of thousands of citizens. Fines can be imposed, certainly, but voluntary action is the only realistic option.
There are still gaps in transparent communication at the most basic level. For instance, the city has not said whether the five hot spots in the main water line are weak spots or actual breaks.
And there is no clear word as to what caused the problem. City officials have maintained the nearly five-decade-old main water line still was supposed to have 50 more years of service in it.
However, the Calgary Herald reported the city has known since 2004 that the outer concrete sleeves of some of the city’s major water pipes – installed between 1955 and 1990 – were alarmingly susceptible to breaking down, including this giant feeder pipe.
Ms. Gondek seemed to reference a known problem, one she has yet to articulate to Calgarians, when she said in new Calgary neighbourhoods, different materials are now being used to construct such large water mains. “We’re not using something that can be compromised in this manner,” she said on the weekend.
She owes Calgarians a clear and full explanation of what the city currently knows about the cause of the catastrophe.
Once the water is flowing normally again, the city is promising a formal review of how exactly the break happened. That review needs to deliver detailed answers on whether faulty materials from past decades are to blame, how was a critical weakness in this water artery missed, and what ongoing checks and maintenance will be required to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
Questions of accountability can wait. For now, Calgarians need to focus on driving down their water consumption. The mayor and other officials must focus on making a clear case for conservation.