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Opinion: Protect local water systems by turning on provincial funding tap

If there’s one lesson Albertans can take from Calgary’s recent water‑main crisis, it’s that our municipal water and wastewater infrastructure is far more fragile than most of us realize.

For the past several weeks, we watched as Calgary raced to repair a major break in its Bearspaw South feeder main. This disruption made national headlines because 1.6 million Albertans rely on Calgary’s system, but the unsettling truth is this: Calgary is not unique.

Opinion: Protect local water systems by turning on provincial funding tap Back to video

Across Alberta, communities large and small face similar vulnerabilities. Beiseker, Cochrane, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Three Hills have all experienced major water or wastewater system emergencies in the past three years. While these incidents didn’t draw national attention, they imposed real costs — financial, social and environmental — on those who call these communities home.

In conversations with mayors across the province, Alberta Municipalities’ board of directors has heard that the biggest issue facing Alberta’s municipal governments today is the urgent need for more water and wastewater infrastructure. They simply can’t support and sustain their communities’ growth without it.

Alberta’s unanticipated population growth has not been matched by proportionate provincial or federal investment. Municipalities are being stretched thin as they attempt to replace failing pipes, increase capacity for new development and keep basic services running without burdening residents with steep tax increases.

The result? Deferred maintenance: a short‑term necessity that creates long‑term risk.

Every year that essential repairs are postponed, small leaks multiply, systems deteriorate faster and costs grow. Calgary’s water woes underscore how a single failure can cascade into widespread economic and social disruption.

If it can happen in Alberta’s largest city, what does it mean for hundreds of smaller communities operating with fewer staff and smaller budgets?

This is not a hypothetical concern. Municipal leaders tell us they are already forced to make difficult trade-offs, delaying water projects to fund road work or other needs. Critical infrastructure should never be pitted against other critical infrastructure.

Municipalities across Alberta are already playing their part. They plan carefully, manage assets responsibly and spend their allocated funds wisely to keep water safe and flowing. But they can’t do it without receiving additional support and funding from the provincial and federal governments.

Without this ongoing funding, more communities will face more frequent disruptions, higher long‑term costs and greater barriers to growth.

Municipalities need a renewed, long‑term commitment to the infrastructure that keeps our communities functioning. They require predictable, stable and sufficient provincial funding for municipal infrastructure in recognition of the scale and urgency of the problems our communities face.

And it needs to happen now, before the next water emergency hits. It’s far less expensive to invest in advance than it is to respond to an emergency.

As outlined in ABmunis’ Property Taxes Reimagined information project, the existing revenue streams available to local governments have changed. They are no longer sufficient to cover costs and local infrastructure deficits.

Without increased provincial and federal funding, the future of Alberta’s water and wastewater systems will look a lot like Calgary’s water‑main break: visible, disruptive and, in hindsight, largely preventable.

ABmunis is hopeful that the three levels of government can work together to address this issue with the urgency and optimism expressed by Calgary Mayor Jeremy Farkas last week to build a better and more resilient future for all Albertans.

Dylan Bressey is president of Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis).

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