New concerns over Calgary water mains mean outdoor restrictions stay

Article content

Calgarians’ frustrations over outdoor water restrictions in place for more than a month are rising along with searing summer temperatures.

But on Wednesday, a city official gave no indication when those restrictions will ease, particularly given new concerns over the viability of water mains in Calgary’s northwest.

Failures in pipe reinforcing wires, the type that snapped during the initial rupture of the water feeder main in Montgomery on June 5, have been discovered this week along the network being monitored following repairs, said Francois Bouchart, the city’s director of capital priorities and investment.

Article content

“These two snaps aren’t a sign another break is imminent, but they do give us some important clues on what the pipe can handle and will help inform our decision on whether the flow in pressure can be increased,” he said.

“I know people are anxious to know when we’ll move to Stage 2 . . . there are still other areas we know that are structurally weaker and the last thing we want is another major break that’ll put us back where we were in early June.”

That news isn’t likely to dampen simmering frustration over the ongoing outdoor water use limitations.

Water restrictions killing business, companies say

Aaron Reiten said he’s been helplessly watching as dozens of commercial properties his company maintains wilt under the heat and the city’s Stage 3 restrictions, which prohibits most outdoor water use.

“It’s a killer — shrubs, trees and grass, everything’s been impacted,” said Reiten, whose The EYC oversees nearly 120 commercial and community association properties throughout the city.

“It’s really frustrating . . . we have all this staff unable to do their jobs.”

The browning of the landscape he oversees is a black mark on his company that could be financially daunting, he added.

Article content

Article content

“People don’t see it as being because the water’s off, they think ‘why would we hire these guys,’ ” said Reiten.

Since leaving her accounting job earlier this year amid family health challenges, Edgemont resident Bonnie Banks said tending her trees and flowers has become an emotional oasis, something that’s been lost since the city’s water crisis erupted.

“It was a positive therapy and now it’s not,” said Banks.

“Enough is enough — if the city was a private business, they’d be fired. It’s time for the (city) to do their jobs.”

The senior said hauling water from the river or from trucks is too onerous and cumbersome, and being asked to do so is infuriating given the go-ahead given the Calgary Stampede.

“I’m livid,” said Banks. “The city has speeded along (restriction easing) for the Stampede but not for the rest of us.”

She spoke as the temperature in Calgary reached the mid 30s C on Wednesday, with the forecast calling for heat in the high 20s in the following days with expectations they could rise back into the 30s next week, with a few possible showers.

The heat warning issued by Environment Canada is leading to increased demand for water at a time when the freshly renovated Bearspaw feeder main is only operating at 55 per cent capacity while the line’s stability is tested and monitored, said Bouchart.

Article content

That’s keeping the consumption restriction at Stage 3, which bans outdoor sprinkler use for everything except new sod or lawn seed.

Private pools now exempted from water limits

On Tuesday, city water consumption reached 555 million litres, an increase of 15 million litres from the previous day and up from 507 million on Sunday, after city outdoor pools and spray parks were granted an exemption from the outdoor ban.

On Wednesday, the city extended that exemption to private pools.

Representatives from Calgary’s irrigation industry huddled with senior city officials for an hour on Monday in what Kyle Brost called “a constructive meeting” to find ways to lessen the burden on the sector.

But the president of the Canadian Prairie Chapter of the Irrigation Association (CPCIA) said significant relief isn’t likely any time soon.

“They did not commit one way or another. They still have concerns about their (water distribution) network,” he said, adding some clients are almost to the point of defying the ban.

“We have businesses saying ‘we don’t care about the restrictions, we’ve got hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of trees dying.’ ”

Article content

The hot, dry weather is only accelerating that frustration as lawns, trees and plants suffer in the 30C-plus heat he said.

“This is why you have irrigation, it’s why the city’s opened up water parks, so they don’t have thousands of complaints about peoples’ kids trapped in the house,” said Brost.

The city has said it’s looking at possibly allowing some sprinkler use but Brost said proceeding by increments isn’t enough for his industry, which has been laying off workers due to the restrictions.

“If we’re allowed to turn on an irrigation system for an hour a week, it doesn’t mean anything,” he said.

Landscaping companies, he said, don’t face the same level of disruption because rules allow them to truck in non-potable water for use.

But one landscaper said the restrictions are hammering his industry.

“It’s definitely having a lot of impact. We can’t plant trees and shrubs and all of the landscaping businesses are affected,” said Harinder Mavi of Green City Lawncare and Landscaping.

Article content

Many locations with new sod don’t have sprinkler systems and such work requires considerably more water than established grass, he said.

A lightning rod for resentment among many whose livelihoods depend on outdoor water has been the Calgary Stampede, which some say has recklessly received preferential treatment.

But city officials say historical water consumption data indicated the Stampede doesn’t significantly drive up Calgary’s water usage, despite an influx of more than 100,000 visitors to the city. Some reasons for this, they said, was that many residents leave the city during Stampede, and early July often brings rainstorms that reduce the demand for outdoor water.

The Stampede says it’s trucking in potable water from outside the city and also using non-treated water from the adjacent Elbow River.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

@BillKaufmannjrn

Article content