History tells us Calgary never figured out its water system

Calgary's water issues aren't new. Check out what I dug up. These tarts are from the 50s but they look a lot like the ones from recent periods of water restrictions. So was that just a bad water era? Hardly. From its early history, In the 1910s, per capita water use Calgary's water system had was higher than basically any American city. problems keeping up with demand. At the time, it was common practice to turn the taps on to keep the water running all winter long so that the pipes didn't freeze. Insurers said the city's rate of water use was enormous. The city's 60,000 residents consumed 8.5 million gallons a day, super high water usage for the population at the time, which didn't add up or meant that the system was leaky. The city went from having ample supply in 1908 to being unable to meet the needs of its people just four years later. And it doesn't end there. Calgary had summer water restrictions in 1950, 54, 55 and 56. Part of that was thanks to a rising population, new industries all putting pressure on the system. The city just couldn't keep up. In 1957, an upgrade to boost filtration capacity at Glenmore helped. It was seen as the ticket to end water rationing. Sound familiar? I know everyone is tired of these restrictions. We're asking Calgarians to do it one more time. That's the word from the current day. But back in the day, that Glenmore upgrade didn't end water rationing. The same year more capacity went online, officials warned they may need to ration again. And they did, in the 60s, according to this article. Water rationing in a city which has two rivers running through it is not merely ridiculous, it's positively disgraceful. The overall message? Don't forget this happened. And let's fix it before it becomes next summer's problem. That editorial didn't do the trick either. The possibility of water rationing came up again in the 70s. It's like these water issues keep coming back to haunt Calgarians. One water researcher says there's a reason for that. Yeah, Calgary may sit on two rivers, but that doesn't mean there's an unlimited tap. Our water supply is extremely seasonal. And although that gets us through, let's say, solid six months of the year, it certainly doesn't mean that we have a bunch of water in the late summer and into the fall. Then on the infrastructure side, that water supply meets demand. Calgary is expanding rapidly, and our water infrastructure and water supply needs to keep up with that. Quite frankly, it hasn't been. We really have to take a long, hard look at what we can afford to do from a water perspective and what we cannot afford to do. Calgary is paying the price right now with the Bearspaw Feeder Main project to twin that crucial water pipe. And water is getting more expensive with rates set to go up, but money alone can't buy Calgary a problem-free utility. Stadnik says water conservation will play a big part. Citizens just need to get on board. That water isn't always there, and we can't count on it being there unless we look after it.