Calgary emergency officials have lifted the state of local emergency, but they warn life is not back to normal yet.
In a news conference on Thursday afternoon, Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry said the city no longer requires additional coordination to navigate the complex challenges the water main break posed. However, the Municipal Emergency Plan remains in effect and the City of Calgary’s Emergency Operations Centre is still open.
“I want to stress that the lifting of the state of local emergency does not mean things are back to normal. The feeder main is still not operating at full capacity and stage 4 water restrictions are still in place,” she said.
“We are, unfortunately, still not at a place to relax those restrictions and move to stage 3. This will be a phased approach and I promise we will do so as soon as we can.”
The state of local emergency was first announced on June 15, 10 days after a “catastrophic” water main break triggered a water supply alert in Calgary, Chestermere, Airdrie and Strathmore as well as a boil water advisory for residents in Bowness.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek and emergency officials have been asking Calgarians to reduce their water usage for weeks, along with dire warnings that taps may run dry if usage isn’t significantly reduced.
Henry added the fire ban will not be lifted at this time, despite cool and rainy weather in the city throughout the week.
“There was some confusion that when the indoor water-saving measures were eased, so did the fire ban. This is not the case. We simply do not have the water capacity to allow us to lift the fire ban at this stage,” she said.
“The fire ban is related to the amount of available water in our system required to fight fires. It’s not about the weather conditions.”
This comes after Gondek told Calgarians on Tuesday that they can “ease” into normal indoor water consumption because the Bearspaw feeder main that was damaged is now operating at 50 per cent.
On Thursday, the mayor praised Calgarians for easing indoor water usage “in a safe manner” and told reporters 480 million litres of water were used on Wednesday.
The Glenmore Water Treatment Plant has also undergone maintenance and this process is expected to conclude by Friday.
“You have done such a great job in easing your indoor water usage in a safe manner,” she said. “We have been monitoring your indoor water usage and you have been amazing water stewards.”
Gondek noted that all information about costs associated with the repair and restoration will be made public “as soon as possible.”
“We have made a commitment to disclose that information as quickly as we can. It would be irresponsible for us to dribble information about the costs and ask you to cobble it yourselves,” she said. “I know Chief Henry is trying to get that done as we are winding down the state of local emergency and as her team is transitioning to stand down the emergency response.”
“When it comes to the independent review of the incident, I have to trust the experts know what they’re doing. I have to trust the folks who have been through this in their careers, who have done this with other water authorities, that they are the ones who are best positioned to tell us how long it will take.”