Calgary water emergency: officials provide update on repairs and plans for review
Global News
As repair work continues , Calgary city officials revealed more about what kind of review will be undertaken to determine what caused a catastrophic water main break on June 5.
Repair work continues Tuesday on Calgary’s water infrastructure as the city enters Day 13 of its water supply crisis. As those efforts continue, city officials revealed more about what kind of review will be undertaken to determine what caused a catastrophic water main break on June 5.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek delivered an update on the overall situation on Tuesday morning and was joined by David Duckworth, the city’s chief administrative officer.
Officials have said it has yet to be determined what caused the feeder main break this month, and Gondek said like most Calgarians, she is eager to learn about what exactly happened and is calling for a third-party review of the incident.
“The framework for the full third-party review has already been established,” Duckworth said. “The scope of this review will include, but not be limited to, understanding the factors that contributed to the original pipe failure, understanding of our current practices for inspection and asset sustainability, and it will include recommendations for specific actions to improve water supply resilience moving forward.
“The review will be guided by an expert panel from academia, the water industry, water utilities management, engineering and government entities focused on infrastructure and resilience. The selection of the external consultant and panel members is currently being informed through conversations with the private sector and national water industry associations.”
Duckworth said once an external consultant has been selected to lead the review and a panel has been put together, they will confirm what will make up “the full scope of the review.”
“The expert panel will ultimately provide recommendations based on the findings of this work that we can then action and share with Calgarians,” he said.
“I will personally commit to providing more information as it becomes available.”