For the fourth time in two years, Calgarians are being asked to curtail their water consumption as work continues to replace a crucial but decrepit pipe once described by the mayor as a ticking time bomb.

The long-running trouble with the Bearspaw South feeder main, which burst in June 2024 and December 2025, is the embodiment of the twin growth and infrastructure crises facing nearly every North American city.

We’ve heard lots about the trouble with the pipe itself: lack of initial knowledge about the pitfalls of using prestressed concrete cylinder pipes, surprising interactions with local soil conditions, lack of urgency once trouble was identified, and the absence of communication between administrators and elected officials.

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But there is a larger, overarching matter at play.

Alongside the Bearspaw South feeder main replacement project is another underground utility endeavour — a feeder main providing water service to north Calgary.

The redundant line should have been built 10, 20, 30 years ago but our leaders of the time, in their wisdom, didn’t think it was necessary to spend the money. (Something … something … something … keeping property taxes........

© Calgary Herald