WATCH LIVE: Mayor issues stark warning as water use continues to exceed limits amid feeder main repairs

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas warned of dire consequences as water usage rose through the weekend amid citywide restrictions, with demand outstripping supply while repairs continue on the ruptured Bearspaw South feeder main.

Keeping total water consumption below a target threshold of 485 million litres per day is necessary to sustain Calgary’s water storage reservoirs and ensure there’s sufficient capacity for an emergency fire response, according to the city, which is asking households to reduce water usage by taking shorter showers, only flushing toilets when necessary and only running dishwasher and laundry machines with full loads.

Despite these pleas, Calgary’s total water usage ticked up to 510 million litres Sunday, putting Calgary in the red, or unsustainable zone.

If usage continues to surpass the daily target, the city will be at risk of depleting storage reservoirs faster than the water treatment plants can replenish them. This led Farkas to issue a stark warning Monday morning.

“Without changes, we’ll enter loss-of-life territory, where firefighting and emergency response may be compromised,” he said on social media. “Reducing use now protects lives and keeps essential services running. Please conserve.”

Watch the latest update from the city:

Stage 4 water restrictions, which prohibits all outdoor watering, remains in place citywide. In the winter, these uses refer to industrial snow making and flooding of outdoor rinks. However, car wash businesses are still able to operate.

The city has a web page that shares more than 70 ways businesses from a variety of sectors can reduce their indoor water usage. Suggestions include fixing leaky taps and finding ways to make daily operations more water-efficient, such as by spot cleaning floors or using brooms instead of mops.

For hotels, the suggestions include reducing bedsheet and towel changes, minimizing the number of ice machines in operation or turning them off entirely, and ensuring maintenance is complete on refrigerators, freezers and other water-using equipment.

Sandeep Gill, the owner of Glenmore Coin Laundry, said his laundromat installed new machines last year that use less water than older models. He said they also installed a new boiler system in 2025 that increased the property’s gas efficiency, which means hot water does not lose heat as quickly and does not need to be cycled again.

“I would also say that our customers are the true champions in being diligent about utilizing the right size machine for the laundry,” he said in an email. “They tend not to take oversize machines for small laundry loads, which helps our efficiency.”

Considering the laundromat is not very busy during the holidays, Gill said the business hasn’t truly been impacted yet.

“We were definitely affected during the main line break last year,” he said.

Some community associations have needed to be creative in maintaining their outdoor rinks, as using hoses to flood the ice sheets is restricted.

Jenny Mae Smith, president of the Braeside Community Association, said the association’s volunteers have been using snow melted in buckets to spot-repair cracks or gouges in the ice sheet. She noted the adjacent community, Southwood, had water trucked in from outside Calgary to flood the ice on its outdoor rink.

“We have an incredible volunteer team that works countless hours on our rink every year,” Smith said.

“They’re remaining very dedicated to keeping the rinks open because we know how much people love it. It’s an important, beloved part of the community so they’re doing everything they can while also following the guidelines or rules in terms of water usage.”

A boil water advisory for residents of Parkdale, Montgomery, Point McKay and West Hillhurst was lifted Sunday evening, after Alberta Health Services testing confirmed the water in those communities met health guidelines and standards.

An eastbound lane on 16th Avenue N.W. was reopened as well Sunday, but motorists should expect construction activity in the area as repairs to the pipe are ongoing.

The city will provide its next update at 1 p.m. on Monday.

More to come …

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