The City of Calgary is just two days away from the return of city-wide water restrictions — and yes, they will be in place during the 113th Grey Cup. Stage 4 water restrictions go into effect on Wednesday as more work to fix the beleaguered Bearspaw South feeder main gets underway. Crews will be working to connect the new Bearspaw South feeder main to the city’s existing water system — one of the final steps before the new pipe is finished. Four weeks of restrictions The work — and subsequent water restrictions — are expected to last about four weeks. Once in place, no outdoor water use will be permitted, including the flooding of outdoor rinks. Residents and businesses are also urged to reduce their indoor water use. Three ways citizens are advised to take to reduce their water usage include: Calgarians aren’t the only ones being asked to reduce their water use — the plea applies to those in Airdrie, Chestermere, Strathmore and Tsuut’ina Nation. Below 500 million litres a day To continue providing reliable water service, maintain enough water for fighting fires and keep the water system working well, the city says water demand needs to stay below 500 million litres per day. Work will be done along Parkdale Boulevard Speaking at a Monday news conference, Michael Thompson, the City of Calgary’s acting chief operating officer of water utility, said in addition to connecting the new pipe to the existing water system, they’ll have to replace roads and sidewalks above the new pipe, as well as six sections of the 1,500-millimetre feeder main along Parkdale Boulevard and Memorial Drive. Eleven months of work Calgary Mayor Farkas said work fixing the Bearspaw South feeder main is almost finished after 11 months of work. “This is an extraordinary achievement, and it’s a testament to the extraordinary people who work every day at the City of Calgary, from the engineers and project managers to the crews working day and night, often incredibly difficult conditions, to deliver this critical piece of infrastructure for Calgarians,” Farkas said. Despite the project being nearly completed, Farkas cautioned against early celebration. “We’re not across the finish line yet,” he said. “We have one final critical stretch ahead of us. We have to get there. We’re going to need Calgarians to come together one more time. “I recognize that we’ve been asking a lot over the past couple of years. Calgarians have been through water restrictions, emergency repairs, disruptions to our daily routines and a great deal of uncertainty about one of the most essential infrastructure pieces that we rely on. “I know that there is frustration. I know that there’s fatigue, and frankly, I share it too, but I also know that Calgarians are capable of great things when we come together.” Farkas said his message to Calgarians is to “finish strong.” “Let’s make these next four weeks count. Let’s give our crews the support they need to get the job done safely, and let’s look forward to the day now just weeks away when we can finally put this chapter behind us.” Grey Cup won’t be affected The water restrictions will be in place when Calgary hosts the Grey Cup on Nov. 15 — and the Cenovus Energy 2026 Grey Cup Festival from Nov. 11 to 15 — but Thompson said they’ve known that would be the case for some time. “Our message is that Calgary is open. We’re ready to welcome visitors to Calgary, and the Grey Cup Organizing Committee has shared those same simple messages that we shared with Calgarians — to reduce your flushes and only flush when required, take shorter showers and only run your laundry and dishwasher when they’re full,” he said. “We’ve shared these messages with Grey Cup organizers, they’re sharing them with their vendors and folks coming to Calgary, and we’re ready to welcome folks to Calgary for a great Grey Cup.”
