Calgary water system’s ‘deep, systemic challenges’ date back decades before major pipe breaks: panel

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is strongly pushing for city council to act on all recommendations presented in an independent panel’s review of the 2024 failure of the city’s key water feeder main — no matter their cost.

The report, released Wednesday, says crucial action is needed to solve deep and systemic challenges tied to Calgary’s water infrastructure that trace back decades.

It found that the risk of the pipe’s failure was first identified in 2004, the report says, after another feeder main in northeast Calgary ruptured.

But over the ensuing two decades, the city repeatedly deferred feeder main inspection, monitoring and risk mitigation, the review states.

While the Bearspaw feeder main was repeatedly seen as a high-consequence risk, the perceived low likelihood of its failure often led resources to be directed to other areas, the report says.

The panel’s review lays out several recommendations, including to accelerate work to twin the Bearspaw feeder main by early next year, repair and maintain the current pipe, and establish a dedicated water utility department, supported by a board of independent experts.

Wednesday’s report stressed the urgency of its recommendations, as the pipe is highly vulnerable to future catastrophic failures.

“The panel has traced these gaps to external pressures, risk and asset integrity processes, ineffective management, and a lack of effective governance oversight,” the report reads.

This report was completed before the Bearspaw line broke again on Dec. 30, triggering a new round of city-wide water use reductions.

Mayor: ‘duty-bound to execute’

Farkas said on Wednesday he’s urging the rest of city council to begin work to enact all of the panel’s recommendations.

“We cannot cherry-pick. We cannot choose,” Farkas said. “This work has been done for us. The roadmap, the path ahead has been set out. It’s up to council, we are duty-bound now to execute.”

“I am pushing for sparing no expense to get this replacement line done.”

Asked whether administration or past councils are responsible for the city’s recent water main breaks, Farkas said the report doesn’t point to any one smoking gun. He noted that it instead attributes the problem to successive decisions throughout more than two decades.

To address the city’s current problems, Farkas said a replacement line alone isn’t enough, and that redundancy is needed as well to bolster the city’s water system.

He added that if done correctly, and if leaks in the system can be fixed, it could make Calgary’s water system more affordable in the future.

“When you think about this as a mega-project to guarantee Calgary safe and reliable drinking water for the next hundred years, we need to be willing to invest at a scale at least what we’ve seen, say, for a new rink or for the entertainment district,” said Farkas.

“The rainy day fund is there for a reason. It’s raining out there.”

Feeder main problems persisted across decades

Officials recommended the Bearspaw main be inspected in 2017, 2020 and 2022, but none occurred.

Problems in water infrastructure governance persisted across multiple city councils and management teams, the report says, partly because councils lacked the expert support to effectively oversee the system.

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Calgary overlooked water system risks for decades, finds report

A new report into the catastrophic failure of Calgary’s main water feeder in 2024 found the city put off much-needed water system infrastructure upgrades since at least 2004. The report was released as Calgary deals with another massive rupture affecting the city’s water supply.

“I would not lay blame at the foot of any one individual or any one era of council,” panel chair Siegfried Kiefer said on Wednesday. Kiefer is a former ATCO executive.

“This problem existed. It repeated itself. It did not surface to the right level of decision-making. And so it’s very difficult, in my opinion, to lay specific blame on any individual. We had a process weakness that was not corrected. “

A photo montage showing damage to the Bearspaw transmission line in Calgary was presented alongside an independent report into the failure of the pipe. (CBC)

The report points to an environment of unclear accountability, with the water utility split across multiple departments. Without a single accountable leader, decisions were often delayed or deprioritized, the report said.

Calgary’s water system is one of the largest and most complex in Canada, the report reads.

Stagnant investment and infrastructure deterioration is a problem across Canada, the report notes. But Calgary’s situation is particularly severe as the fastest-growing major city in the country, with a low density resulting in more kilometres of pipe per resident than any other major Canadian city.

Urgent recommendations, new timeline suggested

The panel “strongly recommends” accelerating the process of steel pipe duplication within 12 to 14 months, using emergency procurement procedures and while leveraging the expertise of the private sector. It adds that any major questions about the pipe’s design should be settled this month.

The current Bearspaw feeder main should also be maintained, the panel says, to provide redundancy for the city’s water supply.

“It is recognized that execution is complicated by roads and residential development, and that the priority must be on safety as well as innovation and not as much on cost in order to achieve an aggressive timeline,” the report reads.

City of Calgary crews work on a damaged section of the Bearspaw feeder main in northwest Calgary in June 2024. (Fritzology Inc./City of Calgary)

The panel also recommended establishing a dedicated water utility department, hiring independent experts to provide oversight, and strengthening how the city responds to risks and asset integrity.

The department would be led by a chief operating officer of water, who would be empowered and accountable to make decisions for Calgary’s water network.

It also recommends a stable and predictable revenue base for the department to renew aging assets and maintain the system’s reliability, while ensuring reasonable water service rates.

Utility fees, rather than property taxes, typically pay for water infrastructure. The report didn’t set out what level rates should be at, or any budget figures for expedited repairs.

Kiefer said he expects none of the panel’s recommendations should lead to a “rate-shock event” for Calgarians, with big investments ideally spread out over time.

The panel also recommends the city establish an independent board of experts to offer oversight and advice to city hall. It suggests a board that can offer long-term guidance across leadership cycles.

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Interviewees at all levels told the panel that consensus-based decision-making led to a culture of deferral and high risk tolerance, the report says. That input informed the panel’s suggested model of consulting stakeholders and experts, but leaving final accountability to one executive role or city council.

It writes that, taken together, the recommendations would address the “systemic gaps” that led to the water main failure, and would introduce a “culture of accountability and proactive risk management.”

The panel said it expects most reforms can largely be implemented in a year, while the water department should completely transition to a city-owned distinct corporation within three years.

Panel stresses city needs longer-term focus

City council interrogated the panel late into Wednesday evening for more detail on how water system improvements were delayed for so long, and for more guidance on how to act on the report’s recommendations.

“If you were in our chairs today, on a scale of one to 10, how concerned would you be receiving this report?” Coun. DJ Kelly asked the six panelists.

One member of the review panel scored the urgency a nine. The rest replied with 10.

Kiefer repeatedly said short-term demands for city resources were addressed at the expense of building up enough resiliency in Calgary’s water infrastructure.

“Accommodating growth has been done by in effect robbing monies from some of the sustainment work that should have been ongoing,” Kiefer told council.

If the report had been presented in the fall, the panel would likely have argued council wasn’t responding urgently enough to the emergency its water system faced, Kiefer said. But after the second “catastrophic” break of the feeder main in 18 months, which occurred last week, he’s seeing a turnaround in how rapidly the system needs to be repaired.

“Lights are coming on. People are seeing the urgency of getting after this problem,’” said Kiefer.

Wednesday’s report is unrelated to a 600-page engineering report presented to council last December that investigated which factors caused the 2024 break, including soil conditions and microcracks along the pipe.