State of emergency in Calgary as water crisis stretches into weeks

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The City of Calgary is now in a local state of emergency due to the water main repairs expected to last into July, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Saturday. 

Gondek said she signed the paperwork at 8 a.m. this morning to declare the state of emergency.

City officials said Friday that five more sections of a crucial feeder main in northwest Calgary need repairing and that water restrictions in the city would remain in place for another three to five weeks.

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“This is not a decision that was made lightly, but as we shared yesterday at 5 p.m., the investigation of the broken feeder main pipe revealed that there are five more areas that are in need of repairs,” said Gondek during a Saturday morning update. Another update took place at 2 p.m.

This will require three to five weeks of Calgarians’ “best water conservation efforts,” she said.

“And that is difficult to say, and I’m sure it’s difficult to hear,” Gondek acknowledged.

The state of emergency gives the city abilities that it wouldn’t normally have, including the provision to go onto private property during repair work.

“We don’t want to do this in a staged manner — we want them to expedite things and do them quickly,” said Gondek. “As we get materials and equipment coming in, there’s going to need to be a staging process around those sites, and that staging process could require us to be going onto private property.

“With the state of local emergency in place, we will be able to access the space that we need to do the staging to get the work done.”

Gondek said she spoke with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver on Friday, and both offered the province’s full support to Calgary.

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She also met Friday night with the provincial government’s emergency management cabinet to discuss how the province can support the city’s efforts to resolve the situation as “quickly and effectively as possible.”

In a Saturday statement, McIver said the Alberta government supports the City of Calgary’s decision to declare a state of local emergency as it “signifies the critical state of Calgary’s water infrastructure and the work that must happen expeditiously in order to return to normal.”

“Alberta’s government remains in regular communication with the city through the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA), and directly with the mayor’s office and we support the city in any way that is needed,” said McIver.

Meanwhile, Gondek also said she has reached out to the private sector in search of expertise and advice to expedite the full restoration of Calgary’s drinking water services.

Mayor calls for Calgarians, businesses to reduce water usage

Calgary has stabilized its water use, with Friday’s usage of 480 million litres, the same as Thursday’s. But that’s the maximum threshold, said Gondek.

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“I’m going to ask you to do a little more every day,” she told Calgarians on Saturday.

Commercial and industrial water users have also been asked to cut back on their water usage, Gondek said.

“I’m also asking all businesses to consider the ways in which you can reduce your water usage, and that can involve allowing many of your employees to work from home,” she said.

“If anyone is able to do so, I think it would save them the time of having a shower in the morning and no one has to worry what they look or smell like, for that matter.”

If every Calgary household flushed the toilet three fewer times per day, the city’s water usage would come down to 440 million litres of water used, giving “a buffer” in the city’s supply, said Gondek.

All outdoor water use is banned under the city’s Stage 4 water restrictions.

“That means you cannot water your lawn. It means you can’t wash your car in your driveway. It means don’t think that at midnight you can sneak out and water your garden because you know no one’s looking,” said Gondek. “You need to know in your soul that you’re using water, and right now we need to not do that.”

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Asked about the potential effect on the Calgary Stampede, set for July 5 to 14, if the repairs are still underway, Gondek said she’s not speculating on what “may or may not need to be done” next month.

Businesses also urged to use less water

Nancy Mackay, Calgary’s water services director, said the city is taking additional steps to ensure it is “fair and consistent” with Calgary businesses while water restrictions remain in place. She noted that the city on Friday afternoon asked car washes, dealerships and repair shops to stop using water to clean vehicles.

“I want to assure these businesses that this is temporary but a necessary measure given the situation we currently find ourselves in,” said Mackay during the city’s Saturday afternoon update.

Mackay urged Calgary businesses, which use about 35 per cent of the city’s water, to reduce their water usage if they haven’t already.

“The time is now,” she said Saturday. “Please, take a look where water is used for health and safety in your business, and where it is not essential for your operations and consider the things you can do differently.

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‘Complex undertaking’

CEMA Chief Sue Henry said Saturday morning that it will be a “complex undertaking” to make the repairs.

“We are working as hard as we can to bring that timeline down,” she said.

Henry has said the break of the feeder main is “the most dramatic and traumatic” break of the feeder city experts have ever seen.

“This pipe is only at the halfway point in its life cycle,” she said. “By all accounts, this should not have happened, but it did.”

Analysis revealed a significant factor leading to the feeder main’s rupture on June 5 was the snapping of pre-stressed steel wires that tightly coil around the inner part of the pipe, according to Francois Bouchart, the city’s director of capital priorities and investment.

He said when these wires snap in multiple places, it can weaken the pipe, possibly leading to a catastrophic failure like the one Calgary’s feeder main experienced on June 5.

Enough pipe material has been secured to complete remaining repairs

In an update Saturday afternoon, Bouchart said an inspection of the remaining 300 metres of pipe still needing robotic inspection was to occur overnight Friday, but it was delayed because there was more water than anticipated to be pumped out and more draining time in the pipe is needed. It is the last section of pipe needing inspection for additional “hotspots.”

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The analysis should be completed by Monday, added Bouchart.

Preventative maintenance work is being done wherever needed on the pipe section, he said.

The five “hotspots” identified are all southeast of the current break, before the Shaganappi pump station, located near the Edworthy Park at the bottom of Shaganappi Trail N.W.

“It is important to note that the planning required for these repairs is complex,” said Bouchart, requiring city crews to be “very intentional” about how the repairs are done. “There are other utilities such as a sewer line that are very close to the hotspot sections of this pipe.”

Enough pipe material has been secured to complete the remaining repairs, with three of the pipe segments already in the city and are currently being prepared for installation, said Bouchart. The other two segments have been sourced from the United States and are expected to arrive next week, he added.

“We are working around the clock to finish this work and restore normal water service, and it will take time,” said Bouchart, adding the original estimated repair time of three to five weeks still holds, “We’re actively look at ways to speed the work up, but not at the risk of public health or work quality.”

— With files from Scott Strasser

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