Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) Chief Sue Henry said current water restrictions will remain in place until next week. As Henry has mentioned before, Calgary is not out of the woods and should make water conservation part of people’s daily routines as crews continue to repair the pipe. “Your efforts have kept Calgary’s water use to a level that will keep Calgary’s water flowing to all homes and buildings in our city,” said Henry at a Tuesday press conference. “Regarding calls coming into 311, there have been 10,254 more calls into 311 over the last six days versus the same period of time in 2023.” While most Calgarians are doing their best and following water restrictions, she said have attended to those who have not. Since Thursday, she said Calgary Bylaw Services (CBS) has dealt with a number of situations of people misusing water. CBS has issued 993 notices and resolved 934 calls. Of those resolved calls, CBS has issued 249 written warnings, 321 verbal ones, and one ticket. While there is room for improvement, she said she is encouraged by the greater number of Calgarians complying with the water restrictions. She advised people to follow CEMA’s watersaving tips. Some of the tips she recommended people take are shortening showers, turning off taps, washing full loads of dishes and clothes, and fixing leaks. For Calgarians looking for updates to the City of Calgary’s recreational facilities, she said all weightrooms, fitness centres, and non-water programs will resume. However, she pointed out pools and showers remain closed. Normal hours of operation will resume on Tuesday. She noted recreational facilities have experienced a higher volume of emails because of these service interruptions. Henry concluded by saying Calgarians affected by these interruptions will be notified by email and refunded. This might take up to two weeks based on the large number of emails and refunds. Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Bowness had its boil water advisory lifted on Monday. “Our water teams were able to be innovative and find a way to flow water to Bowness, making people’s lives a little bit easier in that community,” said Gondek. “Now I do need to stress this does not mean that things are back to normal.” In fact, she said the feeder main remains under repair. This means Calgary remains under outdoor water restrictions. City of Calgary Water Services Director Nancy Mackay said she was pleased it could lift the boil water advisory for Bowness. “With that, I want to thank the Bowness residents and businesses for their patience as we worked to ensure your water supply is safe and meets or exceeds all the regulatory parameters that are so key,” said Mackay. “I would like to acknowledge Alberta Environment and Protected Areas in addition to Alberta Health Services for being such great collaborators and providing the support during this response that we’re doing together.” While these developments are positive, Mackay said it wants anyone living in Calgary, Chestermere, Airdrie, and Strathmore to conserve water. In addition to not using water outdoors, she called for people to reduce their amounts indoors. Gondek followed up by saying the City of Calgary’s water and infrastructure teams have monitoring processes in place. “They are regularly looking at the state of our infrastructure,” she said. “There are a variety of tests that they use and a lot of technology that is deployed to understand the state of our infrastructure.” She said people have called on Calgary city council to spend money on maintenance and monitoring of infrastructure and will continue to do so. The City of Calgary pleaded with Calgarians on Friday to cut back on their water use after a water main rupture on Wednesday. READ MORE: UPDATED: Calgary in danger of running out of water if usage isn't curtailedIt said usage needs to be cut by 25% to avoid running out of water.On Thursday, water usage decreased in the morning and surged in the afternoon, exceeding its production capacity.
