The City of Calgary will be implementing Stage Four outdoor water restrictions as they prepare to connect the new Bearspaw South Feeder Main, one of the final steps of installation for the new feeder main.
Stage Four outdoor water restrictions mean that outdoor water use is not permitted. This means residents are not permitted to wash driveways, cars, sidewalks or building exteriors. According to city bylaws, this also means no filling swimming pools, hot tubs and decorative fountains.
The city of Calgary is also asking residents of Calgary, as well as the municipalities of Airdrie, Chestermere, Strathmore and the Tsuut’ina Nation to save water indoors by:
- Only running dishwashers and laundry when full.
- Flushing toilets only when needed.
- Taking shorter showers, aiming for three minutes.
Indoor water conservation will be needed for approximately four weeks to reduce demand while the water supply is limited.
The Bearspaw South Feeder Main first broke in June of 2024. The work to stabilize Calgary’s water system took on even more urgency when it had a second break in December of 2025.
In order to safely complete the connection of the new pipe, the Bearspaw South Feeder Main must be temporarily shut down.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas spoke to the media on Oct. 15 about these restrictions:
“When the Bearspaw South feeder main failed again, we were reminded about just how vulnerable our city had become. Our water supply was at risk. Our businesses faced uncertainty, and Calgarians were once again asked to make sacrifices,” Farkas explained. “That day we made a promise: we would not simply repair what was broken; we would build a stronger system and move with an urgency our city had never seen before"
During this time, the amount of water that can be distributed across the city will be reduced to 500 million litres a day to ensure there is sufficient water for Calgarians.
“We're building greater resiliency into our water system, and we have more work ahead to expand capacity and strengthen reliability,” Farkas explained. “We're approaching 2 million people, and we need to build for more. We cannot operate today's Calgary with yesterday's infrastructure.”
Once the new feeder main has been connected, crews will start the final commissioning work and prepare the new line for service by the end of the year. This will include disinfecting the pipe, filling it with water and completing a water quality test.
