Calgary is set to receive a federal contribution of up to CAD 29 million for the first stage of the North Calgary Water Servicing (NCWS) project, aimed at expanding the city’s water infrastructure to keep pace with population growth. The funding was announced by Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and Member of Parliament for Calgary Confederation, through the Direct Delivery stream of the federal Build Communities Strong Fund. The City of Calgary is contributing a further CAD 94 million, bringing the value of this first stage to 123 million dollars.
Stage 1 covers four components: 7 kilometres of feeder main and upgrades to three existing facilities, the Top Hill Reservoir, the Big Hill East Reservoir and the Mountain View Pump Station. According to the City of Calgary, the new section will link the two reservoirs, adding redundancy and removing a bottleneck in the network so services can continue during planned or emergency repairs elsewhere in the system.
“This funding is an important investment,” said Michael Thompson, Acting Chief Operating Officer, Water Utility, City of Calgary, noting it is “significantly increasing drinking water capacity for north Calgary while strengthening the overall water system.” Hogan said the project is “essential to unlocking opportunities for future development and meeting demand as northwest Calgary grows.”
A wider network under construction
Stage 1 sits within a much larger undertaking. According to the City of Calgary, the full NCWS scheme will lay 22 kilometres of feeder main and build 10 support facilities in total, stretching from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant to a connection with the Northridge Feeder Main. Some sections are being installed using microtunnelling, limiting disruption to traffic and green space along the route.
Once finished, the network is expected to supply 100 million litres of water a day. The City notes that this figure could rise to 410 million litres once a separate, new water treatment plant, also planned for the Bearspaw site but distinct from NCWS, is built. Feeder main construction is due to wrap up by the end of 2028, with the whole system in service by late 2029.
