Managing Calgary’s Water Supply – a fine balancing act!

Calgary's water comes from the Bow and Elbow rivers

This summer, Calgarians have had their share of fluctuating weather conditions. From hot sunny days, to thunderstorms, hail and even tornado watches, Mother Nature has been keeping Calgarians on their toes, eyes to the sky.

Around us, it is hard to ignore the effects the weather has had – agricultural devastation declared in some Alberta communities, wildfires in Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as recent water restrictions in British Columbia. How is Calgary faring and what is The City is doing to ensure Calgary has an ongoing, plentiful water supply to mitigate the impact of weather-related challenges?

The City of Calgary does many things all year long to protect and provide our clean and safe water. Calgary, like many other cities and towns in Alberta, gets its water from the Bow and Elbow rivers. In recognizing there are a number of stakeholders all with a need for access to the water the rivers provide, we work cooperatively with our provincial partners and industry to ensure that needs are balanced and that no one user is putting excess pressure on this water supply.

Black-eyed Susans are a beautiful YardSmart, low water perennial

As The City’s population grows, so does our need to ensure safe and reliable fresh water is available for citizens. In anticipation of Calgary’s rapid growth, The City committed to reduce our water consumption (in 2002) by 30 per cent over 30 years. Despite record-breaking population growth, we are very pleased to report that per capita household water consumption is in fact less than levels in 2003. This accomplishment can be attributed back to both responsible water use by Calgarians and The City.

We are also continuously monitoring water withdrawals from the river, improving the state of our water and waste-water infrastructure and looking for new and innovative ways to sustain this valuable, natural resource.

“The approach The City takes is one of total watershed management; a complex process that looks at both local needs and the needs of those outside our municipal boundaries”, says Cheryl Harmsworth, manager of Watershed Planning. “This is a tremendous responsibility for The City because there are serious social and environmental considerations that we are obliged to honour.”

We all need to do our part and to be aware of how we use this precious resource, and by working together can we ensure safe and abundant clean water now and for future generations.

How you can help conserve Calgary’s water supply

YardSmart plants need minimal water

• Use high efficiency fixtures in your home
• Have a YardSmart yard with plants that need minimal water
• Use rain barrels to collect water to use in your yard
• Don’t over-water your grass – lawns only need one inch of water per week, including rainfall
• Don’t wash your car on your driveway
• Don’t wash dirt and debris into the storm-water catch basins

Remember, even the smallest action makes a difference. Together, we can protect Calgary’s water.

Flood Readiness & River Safety: Understand. Prepare. Stay Informed. Stay Safe.

With May long weekend known as Calgary's unofficial start to recreational water season and the risk of river flooding greatest between May 15 - July 15, we'd like to update Calgarians on flood readiness and also remind everyone of river dangers.



Understand
The City monitors river forecasts, soil moisture, rainfall and snow melt rates in the mountains. Current data shows mountain snowpack is at the low end of a normal range. Our 90 day precipitation is drier than average, but not rare. We could expect more precipitation between May and July due to El Nino.

New flood inundation maps and river flow triggers are available to help Calgarians understand their personal and business flood risks.

Prepare
The City is better prepared to manage and minimize the impacts of a future flood. We’ve developed a comprehensive plan that incorporates the recommendations of our Expert Management Panel, trained more people, stock piled materials, repaired eroded river banks, built temporary barriers and created new inundation maps.

Calgarians also play an important role in flood readiness and safety. Stay prepared, alert and at the ready by having an emergency plan and 72 hour kit.

Stay Informed
The City has tools and resources available to help Calgarians know their flood risk. Visit calgary.ca/floodinfo for the latest information including flood advisories. You can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter and download the Alberta Rivers: Data and Advisories mobile app.

Stay Safe
The City’s Partners in Water Safety want to remind all Calgarians where there’s water, there’s risk. Before hopping on boat or river raft:

• SCOUT the river for potential hazards,
• ASSESS the level of danger and,
• DECIDE if it’s safe to proceed.

All three pedestrian bridges are now open

All three pedestrian bridges along the Elbow River destroyed in the June 2013 flood are now open for use.

Councillors Evan Woolley & Gian-Carlo Carra with Grade 4 students
from Rideau Park School at Rideau Park Bridge re-opening

Just 18 months after the flood, Mayor Naheed Nenshi was joined by hundreds of residents to cut the ribbon and officially open the Sandy Beach Bridge November 23. Councillors Evan Woolley and Gian-Carlo Carra cut the ribbon at the Rideau Park Bridge with a Grade 4 class from Rideau Park School on hand November 28 and the Riverdale Avenue Bridge opened at noon the same day.

“When we met with the communities after the flood to talk about replacing these bridges, they told us that these bridges were a vital link in their communities and that they really missed them,” says Project Manager Charmaine Buhler. “We are very proud to have restored these vital community links and we hope everyone enjoys using them again.”

Residents and commuters will be able to use the bridges for a very long time, adds Buhler.

“In addition to being designed to withstand future flooding, they are also built to last for 100 years," she explains.

Sandy Beach Bridge re-opening

Landscaping will be completed in the spring at all three bridges. Permanent panels commemorating the old bridges will also be completed in the spring and will be installed where temporary panels are currently located at the bridge entrances.

To view time lapse sequences of the major components of the re-building process, such as the installation of the towers, suspension cables, and bridge decks, and for other project information, please visit www.calgary.ca/elbowbridges.

The completion of the bridges marks an important milestone in The City's ongoing flood recovery efforts. There are 223 projects on the Municipal Infrastructure Recovery Program list. Of those projects, 99 are reported to be either complete or substantially complete (44 per cent). Another 83 projects (37 per cent) have design work underway or are under construction. A total of 38 projects (17 per cent) are in early planning stages and only three projects (two per cent) have not yet started. These either require further investigation or are scheduled for a later start date.

For a complete list of projects and an interactive map of project locations and status, please visit www.calgary.ca/floodrecovery.

New public art series encourages connection to Calgary's watershed

Varying Proximities, a new temporary two-part public art series, encourages us to think about how we experience our rivers. The series was created by Broken City Lab, one of five artist groups working through The City of Calgary’s WATERSHED+ Artist Residency program.

Part one, titled Subtext: River Signs, asks a series of questions, in place until mid-January, affixed to 100 stormwater outfall signs throughout the downtown area along both sides of the Bow and Elbow.

“Broken City Lab’s project invites us to consider the importance of our relationship to our rivers through a new lens, asking questions we might of a person or a relationship,” said Sans façon, lead artist for the WATERSHED+ public art program.

Immersed in Water Services

The artists were immersed directly with The City of Calgary's Water Services staff and learned the specifics about Calgary’s water systems, resources and processes. The artists say that level of accessibility and engagement with City staff was truly essential in the development of the project, which is specific to Calgary's watershed.

Part two of the series, Connecting to the Bow, invites you to call the Bow River from anywhere in the world by dialing 1-844-OUR-BOW-RIVER. For the next 12 months, you can dial the toll-free hotline and be transported to the river’s edge.

Appeal to the senses

“Hearing the Bow River flowing really made that connection for me. It’s kind of our lifeblood in the sense of the water giving us life and allowing us to be nourished. For me, it was the beginning of having more respect and responsibility and more knowledge about our place in it all,” said Calgarian Carol Clausen.

Over the span of a year, Broken City Lab worked alongside The City of Calgary through the WATERSHED+ public art program, a cornerstone of The Utilities and Environmental Protection (UEP) department’s public art plan.

More information on the Varying Proximities series or any of our other public art projects. 

Submitted by Jennifer Storm, Arts and Culture, Recreation