Conrich residents frustrated over water rates increase by area developer

Homeowners file complaint against developer Homeowners say water rates have skyrocketed in the pandemic. Mark Villani reports

Conrich, Alta. — Residents of a community in the Calgary area are expressing concerns after the home developer increased water rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cambridge Park is a community of about 200 homes and 1,000 residents, located just east of Calgary in the hamlet of Conrich.

Homeowners in the area have now filed a complaint with the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) against Amar Developments Ltd.

Residents say they were informed by the company that the cost for their water would increase by about 20 per cent from $3.71 to $4.45 per cubic meter.

Conrich resident, Aaron Chatha says he and his neighbours were shocked.

“The biggest frustration is the timing because it came during the COVID-19 pandemic when everybody is at home,” he said. “I mean it’s the middle of a pandemic, people are losing their jobs, there’s a lot of multi-family homes who have a lot of bills to pay even though you see these big houses here.”

Most families don’t mind paying a little bit extra, but the quality of the water has been a main concern.

Several homes have reported murky, brown water which has caused their water tanks to die out faster and need to be replaced much sooner than their warranty had intended.

“The quality of the water is our main concern,” said homeowner Sunny Samra. “The life of my water tank is generally supposed to be 10 to 12 years, but I changed it after five years and some people have already replaced theirs two or three times.”

The cost for a new tank isn’t cheap. Karim Ahmadi is shelling out thousands to replace his.

“According to the estimate, it’s going to cost around $3,700 for both of them to be replaced,” he said. “It’s supposed to last me 10 years, but due to the water, it’s only going to last five years max."

High costs to truck in water

Head of Amar Developments, Rani Durha, says new licensing restrictions have forced the company to have water hauled in to Cambridge Park’s water treatment facility from the City of Calgary.

“Last year, we ended up paying just over $60,000 for two months of that,” she said.

The water well, which is owned by Amar Developments serves the community, but Durha says Alberta Environment our a limit on how much water they’re able to draw from these wells.

Durha added that a municipal water line already exists, but needs to be connected to the area instead of using groundwater which costs about five times more to truck in.

“But this is just a temporary increase,” she said. “The main objective is get a Rocky View water line extended into the community which will happen in about 10 to 12 months.”

As for the quality of the water, she adds that not one resident has directly contacted her expressing concerns.

“We send in tests regularly to Alberta Environment so we are not aware of any water quality issues.”

No application for rate increase

Several residents expressed concerns that Amar Development did not apply for a water rate increase with the AUC or give 30 days notice to residents.

Although, according to the AUC developers can set water rates without any commission oversight if an agreement is reached between the developers and the customers.

Jim Low with the AUC says this often tends to be most efficient and effective for small size water utilities, but in cases when customers can’t agree, the commission has to step in.

“So when there’s a complaint, that’s now treated as an application to have the commission set the water rates,” Low said. “The commission has now directed the developer (Amar Developments) to take action to address this by the end of June.”

Low adds that if an agreement can’t be reached by the end of June, then the AUC would kick off a public formal transparent rate process.

As for residents, many are frustrated by a lack of clarity.

Chatha says that if water was being trucked in and there were money issues to begin with, that should have been communicated.

“We don’t want to live in a place where we’re worried about getting water and if it’s such a concern, why are the developers continuing to sell and develop lots if there’s not enough water to serve the community already?”

“We thought there was enough water, but now don’t know,” Chatha said.

A water ban has now also been implemented outdoors for Cambridge Park homes.

Despite the ban, Amar Developments is not concerned.

“There’s enough water in the community,” Dhura said.

Phase 4 development

Amar Developments is now in the process of bringing in Phase 4 of Cambridge Park, which will include a business campus district.

Several homeowners have signed a petition opposing the project, suggesting it does not meet the needs of their lifestyle and have claimed the water increase is interrelated.

Dhura notes that the rate increase is not related to the upcoming development or any opposition to Phase 4.