Mayor Jyoti Gondek applauded Calgarians for doing their part to bring water use down to an all-time low since the break, but she had no clear answers about what would happen with upcoming events such as the Stampede.
This comes after the city declared a local state of emergency on Saturday after it said it would take 3-5 weeks to repair the feedermain pipe and for water flow to normalize, leading to longer water restrictions. The city says this is due to five issues being found on the feedermain.
During Sunday’s 8:30 a.m. update, Gondek says Calgarians brought water use down to 436 million litres on Saturday, lower than on June 8, which was at 440 million litres.
“I am very happy to report that Calgarians are listening and understanding that we are going to be in a prolonged period of needing to conserve water,” Gondek said.
“I cannot thank you enough for taking that call to action seriously.”
If the city exceeds the threshold of 480 million litres, the city won’t be able to maintain demand and the water supply will eventually run out.
She also says the water supply is at 648 million litres, a hefty amount for emergencies, adding that Calgarians are keeping up and will continue to do their part.
“For all of your efforts, you are very good humans, especially when you consider that a lot of haters and deniers are saying that ‘You’ll give up, you’ll get sick of all of this, and you won’t do your part.’ I have much more faith in all of you than that,” she said.
Watch: Calgary declares local state of emergency as water crisis continues
However, there has been widespread concern on social media about the Calgary Stampede and other popular events potentially being derailed, as the timeline could extend through the 10-day event, the largest in Alberta.
The mayor didn’t have concrete answers.
She says the city needs more time to collect more information and to “look at the numbers.”
“We need some more time to look at water usage mapping throughout our city and the region. We need to talk to our partner organizations and businesses to make sure they understand what they can do to reduce water usage, and we need to understand better the timeline for restoring the Bearspaw Water Treatment facilities flow back into our system,” she said.
Other options are also being considered, Gondek said, like using overland pipes to get water from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant into the various places that need it. However, she says these are “backup plans” under consideration at this time.
“We can’t make these types of significant decisions based on gut instinct alone. Let’s give the City Emergency Operations team the next few days to collect the information they need,” she said.
“Let’s give them time to brainstorm with other professionals to see what can be done to restore our water supply to regular usage and get that water pumping at 100 per cent capacity.”
Watch: Calgary says too early to assess impact of restrictions on Stampede 2024
On Saturday, CEMA Chief Sue Henry said 5,724 calls had been made to 311, and 1,794 of them were for water misuse. She says the majority of those calls have been resolved and 139 remain open.
The city says officers have issued over 1,000 warnings, 507 verbal warnings and 551 written warnings, along with two tickets to contractors associated with construction work.
She adds that 220 fire ban calls have been made, with 18 remaining open, and that wait times for 311 are sitting at around 18 minutes. The 311 app is being encouraged as an alternative, along with visiting the website and submitting an online request.
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Work on repairing the pipeline restarted Thursday afternoon following the injury of two workers the day prior, which prompted an inspection by Occupational Health and Safety (OHS).
A timeline provided by the city earlier this week estimated the new pipe would be installed Thursday before it was flushed for three days and quality tested for two days — with the phasing out of restrictions to follow.
In Saturday’s update, Infrastructure Manager Francis Bouchard says 300 metres of pipe have been drained and was set to go through a robotic inspection Friday night but has been delayed. An analysis is expected to be finished by Monday.
Stage 4 outdoor watering restrictions are still in place, and so is a fire ban. Gondek said on Saturday that no indoor water restrictions are planned at this time, but that Calgarians should “understand that outdoor water restrictions are in place.”
Gondek made several remarks about conserving water in relation to Father’s Day, but she also said her father told her to “Do it like you mean it,” as a form of advice.
“So Calgary and surrounding area, I’m asking you to save water like you mean it because it matters. It matters a lot and I can see that you are doing your best to help us all get through this situation and it is greatly appreciated,” she said.
Another update will take place at 2 p.m.