Leong: With Calgary short of water, the city should act like it

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It shouldn’t be news to anyone that Calgary returned to Stage 4 outdoor water restrictions on Aug. 26, when emergency work began on a crippled major water main that burst almost three months ago.

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Since then, we’ve struggled to reach the target consumption of 450 million litres per day, the volume of water the city’s system can reliably send to our taps, we’ve been told.

For several days, that number hovered around 475 to 490 million litres before spiking to 505 million litres on Monday. Officials have warned this could eventually deplete underground reservoirs, with all the dangers and inconveniences this would entail.

And while the city continues to exhort Calgarians to stop outdoor water use and exercise water-saving habits indoors, officials should know actions speak louder than words.

Case in point: a pair of contractors were power washing the sidewalk behind city hall Sunday morning.

I asked the man operating the machine if he was using tap water, and he said yes. What about water restrictions? He said they didn’t apply and he then pointed at a city sandwich board not 20 metres away explaining how “we’re using water wisely.”

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We had a hard time communicating and this gentleman’s English wasn’t the best. (He apologized for this, which wasn’t necessary.)

A city spokesperson later said this was a health and safety cleanup. Workers are supposed to be provided signage to explain what they are doing and its absence was called an “oversight” that will be corrected in the future.

Although this was a perfectly reasonable use of treated water, I can only assume most people who saw this might have reacted cynically or angrily at the sight of what looks like water being misused just outside the doors of city hall.

Asked if there was some other way to clean up that didn’t involve spraying large amounts of treated water, the city spokesperson didn’t have this information on hand.

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Conservation measures not as helpful as they look

It doesn’t stop there. While the city has been using non-potable sources to water its plants and grass, this is not as helpful as it looks. Not everyone is going to read the tiny signs on the planters announcing the water used isn’t treated.

Continued watering could lead some residents to wonder why they should save water when it looks as if the city isn’t. Why not let those plants and lawns wilt alongside ours? More visible solidarity from local government would be appreciated.

The last time we had Stage 4 water restrictions, after the original water main break, many water-related businesses were asked to close. This is not the case now, with no clear indication as to why the rules are different.

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And officials have never given a straight answer about what they would do if businesses didn’t voluntarily cut their water use or were abusing their supply.

This lack of clarity and unwillingness to share information is disheartening, knowing that so many of us are diligently abiding by water usage limits.

The fact we’ve come close on many days to reaching the 450-million-litre target tells me we have enough caring and civically minded neighbours who are willing to help get us through this month and avoid reaching any worst-case water scenarios.

There will be lots of time later to rake city politicians and bureaucrats over the coals for allowing us to get to this place. For now, individuals and businesses need to look out for each other and make sure we have enough water to go around for a few more weeks.

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That being said, the unfairness of seeing some businesses and even the city seemingly using as much water as they want — and I emphasize the word seemingly — does nothing to encourage those who’ve been unwilling to buy into water-saving efforts.

If we are truly at risk of running out of water, the city must start by looking the part itself while forcing large non-residential water users to do their bit.

Residents shouldn’t feel as if they’re in this alone.

rleong@postmedia.com

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