Calgary mayor says Stampede opening day best-case scenario to fully restore water

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the city is committed to a plan to restore water services in early July but cautions it is possible there could be further delays.

“We at the city are doing everything possible to get us to the July 5 target date to get us back to normal flow of water,” Gondek said in an update Thursday morning.

The city is “aiming for the low end” of the three to five-week timeline of water main repairs.

“The timeline for repair work will come into sharper and sharper focus as this repair work continues,” Gondek said Thursday.

“Still, I have to caution that we need to be prepared that each potential site could require a bit more work than we had intended or that water testing is going to take a little bit more time.”

Gondek said Calgarians and residents of other communities used 454 million litres of water on Wednesday, which is now five days of staying well below the threshold requirement of 480 million litres.

Staying below that threshold for so long has meant firefighters have access to water they need to combat fires.

“I want to commend the Calgary Fire Department on the very rapid response on putting out a fire in Bowness yesterday,” Gondek said.

“They were able to put it out by using about 600 litres of water.”

During her morning address, Gondek said she is concerned about reported harassment of city workers who were out conducting water-related activities such as flushing lines.

She said all of this work is essential to public safety and public health.

“If you have questions about what someone is doing, please call 311 and log your concern,” she said.

“At the same time, if you’re like me and you think crews are doing a really good job at getting our water restored, reach out to 311 and let them know how much you appreciate the work that’s being done.”

Stage 4 water restrictions are still in place in the city of Calgary and many area communities, which means all outdoor water use is prohibited until further notice.

Additional water guidelines can be found online.