For over two decades, a silent threat festered beneath the city streets. City officials knew the Bearspaw South water main was a disaster waiting to happen, a ticking time bomb of corroding pipes. Yet, they chose inaction, deferring repairs and concealing the truth from those who should have been aware.
Now, all Calgarians are paying the price for this staggering negligence. A recently released report details a history of incompetence, poor planning, and a relentless passing of the buck that culminated in the devastating 2024 pipe burst. The timing, while unfortunate, lends the report a weight it rightfully deserves.
The first warning came in 2004, a dramatic rupture along McKnight Boulevard that left over 100,000 people without water. When the damaged pipe was unearthed, it hadn’t simply worn down – it had crumbled into a powdery substance, a chilling premonition of what was to come.
But instead of heeding this stark warning, city hall chose to bury it. The problem was swept under the rug, the lesson ignored. Internal assessments confirmed the vulnerability of the Bearspaw line, identifying its age, design, and material composition as critical flaws posing a “significant risk to system integrity.”
The pipe in question, constructed with a problematic concrete and steel combination, was known to deteriorate with age. Six kilometers of this decaying infrastructure remained buried, a looming threat. Other cities across North America faced similar issues and proactively implemented mitigation programs, replacing vulnerable pipes and building redundancy into their systems.
Calgary, however, stood still. The problem was allowed to worsen, to the point where 60 percent of the city’s water supply flowed through the Bearspaw line, leaving the city utterly vulnerable when the inevitable occurred. Even basic inspections were repeatedly delayed or outright cancelled.
The report reveals a baffling lack of accountability. Responsibility was fragmented across multiple city departments, creating a chaotic web of oversight. Successive councils were deliberately kept in the dark, shielded from the true gravity of the situation.
The city’s reliance on acoustic monitoring proved equally flawed, a technique that misses a staggering 50 percent of potential failures. Crucially, this system failed to detect the impending break that ultimately crippled the city’s water supply.
A proposed solution involves establishing an independent “water utilities oversight board” comprised of genuine experts, accountable directly to the city council. This board would be tasked with providing the focused leadership and expertise that has been so desperately lacking.
The report also points to an organizational shift in 2022 that further muddied the waters, leaving even seasoned water officials unsure of their responsibilities. While dedicated workers are currently toiling to repair the damage, the blame rests squarely on those at the top.
As one panellist succinctly put it: “Someone has to own it.” The time for deflection is over. The city deserves answers, and those responsible for this decades-long failure must be held accountable.
