Calgarians should start preparing for more water restrictions in the spring. Mayor Jeromy Farkas expects citizens will need to step up to conserve water to meet the city’s expedited timeline to repair the Bearspaw feeder main. The city will soon announce exactly when the restrictions will start and how long they will last. “We are monitoring trends, snowpack in the mountains—it’s a complicated decision to make in terms of when the shutdown will happen (and) how long the shutdown will be,” Farkas said. “We need to see if the Glenmore Reservoir is charged up with enough water to get us through two to three weeks.” In June 2024, the Bearspaw feeder main burst, putting the city under stage 4 water restrictions for nearly four months. At the end of December 2025, it burst again, prompting emergency water restrictions until the pipe was mended. Preventative work on the feeder main has been ongoing, and the mayor says it is expected to be done by Dec. 1, so proactive water restrictions expected this spring and fall should end this year. “If we can pull together through the spring and fall for these proactive shutdowns, it makes the likelihood of an emergency break much less, and it buys the needed time for the crews to finish this replacement pipe faster than we’ve ever done before,” said Farkas. City council is also pressing for city administration to find ways to get infrastructure projects done faster, rather than deferring the capital to the next year. On Tuesday, council discussed recruiting a water oversight board to hold city administration accountable and keep tabs on projects like the feeder main repairs.
