Federal government commits $29M to north Calgary water main project

The federal government is contributing $29 million to a major water infrastructure project serving Calgary’s northern neighbourhoods.

Corey Hogan, the Liberal MP for Calgary Confederation and parliamentary secretary to the minister of energy and natural resources, announced the funding with city officials. The money comes from the Build Communities Strong Fund and supports the first stage of the North Calgary Water Servicing project, where construction began last fall in northwest Calgary.

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The ability to turn on a tap and receive drinkable water is a miracle of modern civilization that’s become absolutely mundane, most of the time.

The first stage includes several kilometres of feeder main and upgrades connecting the Top Hill Reservoir, Big Hill East Reservoir and Mountain View Pump Station. Michael Thompson, the city’s general manager of infrastructure services, said the stage will begin operating next year and provide 30 million additional litres of water to Calgarians from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant.

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That will go into operation next year, providing 30 million additional litres of water to Calgarians from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant.

The project has a total budget of $533 million. The first phase is expected to cost $123 million, including $94 million in city funding. Once fully built in 2029, the north feeder main will extend 22 kilometres and include up to 10 support facilities, running from the treatment plant to the Northridge Feeder Main at 144 Avenue and 14 Street N.W.

City officials said the completed project will deliver 100 million litres of drinking water to north Calgary communities. That capacity could rise above 400 million litres a day after a new water treatment plant is built. The work comes as the reliability of Calgary’s water system remains a concern following two critical ruptures on the Bearspaw feeder main, which carries 60% of the city’s drinking water.

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This is a great first step in delivering increases in infrastructure for Calgarians, to move more water to Calgarians and provide additional redundancy so that if we do have issues, there’s a backup in place that people can rely on.