The City of Calgary announced this morning that they are moving into Stage 2 outdoor water restrictions, allowing for the watering of grass and the filling of outdoor pools as the region is in the grips of a heatwave.
City officials said that Stage 2 allows for the use of sprinklers to water grass but only for a maximum of one hour, one day of the week. The City said that the Bearspaw feeder main water output has been increased to 70 per cent of its capacity. The City believes that, if all goes to plan, the feeder main capacity can be increased to 75 per cent and water restrictions can be lowered to Stage 1 on Monday.
According to officials Stage 1 outdoor water restrictions are not uncommon. Indeed, the City of Calgary was in Stage 1 for all of August through October last summer due to the lack of water in the region.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the City has observed the repaired pipe and there appear to be no faults or wire breaks along any inspected section of the water main. However, Mayor Gondek said the work is not done and an independent third-party review will be conducted shortly that will hopefully get to the bottom of how and why the pipe broke in the first place.
Gondek said the work is not done and residents need to remain good water stewards, but the move from Stage 3 to 2, and from 2 to 1, indicates that the water crisis that started nearly six weeks ago is nearly at an end.
