Remember the waterfall on the High Level Bridge? Here’s how Edmonton got it, and lost it

CTV News Edmonton's Matt Woodman takes a look back at the waterfall that used to flow from the High Level Bridge.

Once upon a time in Edmonton, there was a waterfall on the High Level Bridge.

The art installation flowed off the iconic landmark for 25 years. This story remembers the majesty of the Great Divide Waterfall, what led to its demise and how a new project succeeded in its stead.

About a waterfall

On the evening of Sept. 1, 1980, with the twist of a valve, the Great Divide Waterfall gushed into existence. It was designed and installed by Edmonton artist Peter Lewis to commemorate Alberta’s 75th birthday.

Taller than Niagara Falls by seven metres, the 64-metre-high misty water feature came to life as Edmontonians stood on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River to watch the show.

The sound of rushing water, pushed through pipes that spanned 91 metres across the High Level Bridge, mingled with traffic noise while those gathered to view the spectacle applauded and took photos. Passengers on a bus passing by pressed their faces against the windows to catch a view and kayakers paddled through the cascade.

The pipe system was connected to a nearby watermain by a special valve with extra pumps used to make enough water pressure to create the chute.

According to the City of Edmonton’s website, it took three months and about $600,000 to build. The funds were a mix of city and provincial money, plus donations.

When the falls were turned on, about 50,000 litres of treated tap water would spew directly into the river below every minute — and it cost about $2,000 an hour to run.

The Great Divide Waterfall graced Edmonton’s landscape on long weekends in the summer. On sunny days, the waterfall could make a rainbow adding an arc of colour to the skyline. And in the evenings, the setting sun would glow through the watery curtain.

On Canada Day, the city set off fireworks over the High Level Bridge as the water feature glittered in the dusk.

People walking across the east side of the 109 Street bridge would get close enough to the water to receive a cool splash when the wind was just right. The Sourdough Raft Race took boaters down the North Saskatchewan and as they jockeyed for position they’d get a final sousing when they passed under the misty falls.

For 25 years, from May to September, the Great Divide Waterfall coursed, rippled and gleamed as a watery landmark in Edmonton.

Water over the bridge

In 2005, Environment Canada raised concerns over chlorine sources entering the North Saskatchewan River. The city says it shut off the waterfall and that it stayed shut off while Epcor and Environment Canada worked with the city to find “alternative ways to keep it running.”

Although considered a “low volume source,” the Great Divide Waterfall was shooting the same chlorine treated water that Edmontonians drank directly into the river.

The waterfall was decommissioned in 2009. The City of Edmonton says its work with Environment Canada found the water used to be “unnatural and unsafe for the North Saskatchewan River.” Canada’s Fisheries Act bans any substance that could harm fish or aquatic species from being added to water that could contain fish.

At the time, Mary Pat Barry from the City of Edmonton said they were looking at how to “reduce the chlorine and operate the waterfall in a more environmentally friendly manner.”

By 2012, with the pipes still dry, the reality of what an upgrade would cost became more apparent. The debate at city council shifted from how to remove the chlorine to whether the waterfall was even worth the cost.

John Mahon from the Edmonton Arts Council said the waterfall belonged to the city’s art collection and vowed to do “everything within reason” to save it.

“We spend an awful lot of resources and money to treat our river into some of the best tap water in the world and shooting it off a bridge back into the river is not the best thing to do,” said former mayor Don Iveson, who was a city councillor at the time.

Then mayor Stephen Mandel asked Edmontonians to weigh in. He told CTV News Edmonton that 90 per cent of the emails and phone calls he received were in favour of saving the waterfall.

In March 2013, city councillors, Lewis and the Edmonton Arts Council held talks to discuss the possibility of turning the Great Divide Waterfall back on.

The city explored three options to get the water flowing again: adding equipment to the current pipes to de-chlorinate the tap water, building a new system that could safely use river water, or entirely replacing all the pipes.

The bill ranged from just over $1 million to $2.6 million, plus operating costs estimated between $15,000 and $20,000 each time the waterfall was turned on.

Light it up

While the fate of the Great Divide Waterfall was being deliberated another project was coming to light.

Dave Mowatt, who was president of ATB at the time, pitched the Light the Bridge campaign as a way to illuminate the High Level Bridge. The project, which he called ”100 per cent donor funded,” aimed to install 60,000 LED lights on the historic bridge.

Members of Edmonton’s executive committee unanimously approved the project and Epcor pledged $200,000 up front. The rest of the funds were to be raised by selling individual lights, for $25 a bulb.

The City of Edmonton would still be responsible for operating costs, which Mowatt said would be about $16,000 a year to run the lights every night for eight hours.

Mayor Mandel said that with “a $2-billion budget” the city could find the dollars to run the lights.

Bulbs were purchased by Edmontonians to commemorate wedding anniversaries and birthdays, by parents to honour their children and teachers to salute their students.

“We have got the two-and-a-half million dollars we need to light our bridge,” Mowatt announced in March of 2014.

It took a year and a half and 11,000 people and businesses to raise the money, and a website was set up to show donors where their bulb was located on the bridge.

Prolux Lighting was tasked with installing and programming the 15,000 light fixtures that housed the bulbs.

“We’re very proud of this project. This is the biggest landmark in Edmonton,” said Derek Pogany from Prolux.

The lights debuted on Canada Day in 2014.

Done forever?

That same year, in the shadow of the success of the Light the Bridge campaign, the fate of the Great Divide Waterfall was decided.

Following years of debate and 34 years after the water first flowed, city council decided the waterfall was too expensive to turn back on.

“The taps are shut off,” Mayor Iveson said.

But even with the decision made, councillors remained divided.

With tight budgets, coun. Mike Nickel said, “The waterfall just isn’t a priority right now.”

“It’s a little bit rich for us now to go back and say we’re only going to take care of our art unless someone takes care of it for us,” Coun. Ben Henderson argued.

Coun. Michael Oshry added that Edmonton “is a different city than we were in 1980 and I think the value is not there.”

Henderson went on to say, “I hope it’s not done forever, but I fear that it is at this point.”

The original pipes that once created the Great Divide Waterfall are still in place.

In 2016, councillors voted to leave the pipes on the High Level Bridge. The decision was made due to “high cost and safety concerns” associated with their removal, the city said.

The bridge, which is 112 years old this year, is slated to undergo necessary rehabilitation work. The city says the timelines and nature of the work to be done are “undefined” as “the planned rehabilitation required is more extensive than previously anticipated.”

Because of this, what will happen to the waterfall pipes is still unknown, but the city says a revival “is not anticipated.”

And so, it appears the Great Divide Waterfall will remain just a memory of a time when a cascading chute, made by a man, poured off a bridge in Edmonton.