Water billowed up from under the road in northwest Calgary on Tuesday night, causing “significant flooding.” It happened in the area of the Sarcee Trail and 16 Avenue N.W. interchange. Tuesday night’s incident was only a few blocks away from where a catastrophic feeder-main break occurred, crippling the city’s water supply, in summer 2024. And that fact was not lost on city officials. “Given its location and an initial assessment, we expect the break is related to the Bearspaw South feeder main,” the city said in a release. As of 10:30 p.m., the city said it was “assessing the water pressure to determine the impacts to residents in neighbouring communities.” Additionally, the city said it was “opening the Emergency Operations Centre and activating the Municipal Emergency Plan.” Those measures followed two and a half hours or more of water on the road rising almost to the height of its median. Water could be seen flowing off both sides of the road, taking over pathways and continuing into the park. Police first said they’d been called in to help the Calgary Fire Department around 8 p.m. “(The Calgary Police Service) is on scene assisting CFD with road closures due to a water-main break in the area,” CPS told media. “There are reports of significant flooding, and several vehicles are stuck in the area.” Several of the stuck vehicles had been freed by around 9, 9:15 p.m. The fire department confirmed 13 people had been rescued from their vehicles. According to police, no injuries were reported in the event’s early goings. Police said the impact to traffic was significant. “Westbound 16 Avenue will be closed between Home Road and Sarcee Trail for the next several hours,” they said. “We ask people to avoid the area at this time.” Mayor Jeromy Farkas took to social media regarding the incident. “There has been a water infrastructure failure in Bowness, causing significant localized flooding and road closures,” he said. “2000 homes and 100 businesses have been affected by the service disruption.” “Please assist our emergency crews and first responders by avoiding any non-essential travel in the area surrounding 16th Ave NW and Sarcee Trail NW,” he said. “The seriousness is being investigated and we will provide more information as soon as possible.” By 10:30 p.m., the fire department had left the scene in the hands of city waterworks. It was not clear whether the water had been turned off. On social media, several people who live in the area as well as some people living further out posted about low water pressure in their homes. Hillhurst, West Hillhurst, Eau Claire and even Beltline residents mentioned having low water pressure. The city said it would provide an update “once we have a better understanding of the impacts and we know more information.” The city recommends monitoring online for the latest state of traffic in the area. Farkas said an update likely would not come before 6 a.m. The summer 2024 incident A six-and-a-half-foot-tall concrete pipe located beneath 16 Avenue N.W. burst suddenly the evening of June 5, 2024. That night, water spewed across the road, flooding nearby sports fields. It was just the start of what officials described at the time as one of the most significant infrastructure failures in recent memory. A local state of emergency was declared. Water restrictions were put in place for a lengthy stretch, sometimes requiring Calgarians to completely cease water use and other times requiring them to limit water use to varying degrees. In the months that followed the break, the city carried out 29 separate repairs along the feeder main. The final repairs were completed by November 2024.
