Calgary’s water-use restrictions are a symptom of a much larger problem in Canada |
City crews assess damage to the Trans-Canada Highway from a water main break in Calgary, on Dec. 31, 2025.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
Jen Gerson is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail.
As a Calgarian of many years’ residence, I have only one question to lay before the universe: what terrible water spirits hath my city offended?
More than a decade ago, a deluge took out half the downtown; a year-and-a-half ago, a catastrophic water main break forced us all into major restrictions for weeks. And, now, another failure on the same line, except in the middle of winter.
I’m seriously starting to consider the possibility that we must impose mandatory worship of the Bow and Elbow rivers in order to propitiate the watery gods of old. Let’s make an annual festival of it, and send a bouquet of flowers down the river in order to make peace with whatever forces must be avenged. This plan cannot be any less effective than the state-of-the-art fibre optic acoustic monitoring system that was supposed to sound a little alarm before it spewed enough water onto the roadway to necessitate the rescue of 13 people from stranded cars – and plunged the whole city into yet another season of cabin rules for the toilet.
Short showers. Full laundry loads. Another excuse to put off cleaning our children and our........