Alberta’s provincial government has announced it will undertake its own review of Calgary’s water system.
In a social media post Wednesday afternoon, Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams shared a letter he sent to Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas informing him of the provincial review.
The letter comes as city officials gradually bring the Bearspaw feeder main back into service after a critical failure of the line on Dec. 30, 2025 — the line’s second break in less than two years.
“I understand repairs are ongoing and the city aims to restore water service as soon as possible,” Williams wrote in his letter. “However, I am concerned about implications for the capacity of municipal services and the confidence that Calgarians may have in the city’s ability to sustain this essential service.”
Williams wrote that he recognizes that the City of Calgary has taken several “commendable steps” to review the circumstances leading up to the feeder main’s original break in June 2024, including an investigation into the pipe, a practice review from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) and a review by an independent panel.
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That report, released last week, found that systemic gaps deep-rooted over two decades in how Calgary’s water infrastructure is planned, managed and overseen eventually contributed to the pipe’s failure.
Williams said he believes residents of Calgary and surrounding communities who rely on the city for water services have “valid concerns” that the Bearspaw south feeder main could rupture again.
City officials said as recently as Wednesday that they cannot guarantee that the pipe will not break again.
Williams is using powers under the Municipal Government Act to direct city administration to provide him with “any and all documentation” related to general water main asset management practices that could impact the feeder main, as well as all relevant materials dating back to the McKnight feeder main break in 2004.
He said that includes all the information provided to the independent panel, council and committee records, including meeting minutes and agendas, media reports of council decisions, infrastructure reports, city policies and budget documents, among several other types of materials.
“If for any reason, any of this documentation is not available, I request that the city provide me with an explanation as to why,” Williams wrote.
He is requesting that the city hand over all the requested documentation by Jan. 27.
During a city press conference on the feeder main Wednesday, Farkas thanked Premier Danielle Smith, Williams and other ministers, who he said he’s been in “constant contact” with since the pipe burst two weeks ago.
Farkas said he recently met with Williams and that he expressed the city’s willingness, on a “voluntary basis,” to provide “any and all documentation.”
“From a general transparency standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to me to provide as much documentation as possible to the public,” Farkas told reporters. “We need to provide the assurances that we have looked at every single possibility, every single contingency.”
Farkas said the release of information to the province will be “really instrumental to building public confidence” in the city’s short-term and long-term response to issues with the water system.
In his response to Williams, posted on social media late Wednesday, Farkas said he will work with city administration to co-ordinate the collection of materials and to provide a “structured submission” that aligns with what the minister is requesting.
In the days following the recent rupture of the feeder main, Alberta’s premier suggested the province would look into whether more oversight is needed for the city’s water system.
On social media Wednesday, Smith said she appreciated Williams for launching a “full, transparent review of Calgary’s water main failures so we can get answers, fix any gaps, and help councils make better long term decisions for the people they serve.”
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