Calgary Water Conservation: Restriction Fatigue Threatens March Shutdown Compliance

CALGARY, AB — The city is bracing for its third major water conservation push in less than two years, and the numbers suggest Calgarians may not be listening anymore.

Starting March 9, the Bearspaw South Feeder Main will shut down for approximately four weeks of planned repairs—a crucial maintenance window to address what Mayor Jeromy Farkas has called a 'terminally ill' pipe. The city is asking residents to cut water use by 25-30 litres per person daily to stay below the 485-million-litre safety threshold.

But recent history shows compliance is slipping.

The Great Break vs. The Great Shrug

When the feeder main catastrophically ruptured in June 2024, Calgarians rallied. Daily water consumption dropped from roughly 600 million litres to 440–480 million litres—a 20-25% reduction that became a symbol of collective resilience.

Fast forward to the December 30, 2025, break: officials reported no measurable reduction in the first few days. A week into the crisis, usage hovered around 511–514 million litres, consistently missing the 485-million-litre target. The city had to issue an Alberta Emergency Alert just to get residents' attention.

Sue Henry, Chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, has framed the upcoming March shutdown as a planned, manageable event. But David Duckworth, City Administrative Officer, acknowledged the challenge: 'restriction fatigue' is real, and voluntary indoor conservation is proving harder to enforce with each successive ask.

The March Reality Check

Several factors will shape compliance during the four-week shutdown:

Restriction Fatigue: High risk. This is the third major conservation period since June 2024. Behavioural data shows compliance drops with each repeat request, especially for voluntary measures like shorter showers or reduced toilet flushes.

Seasonal Advantage: Helpful. Since it's March, outdoor water use is essentially zero. The city won't have to battle lawn sprinklers, which drove much of the variance in 2024.

The 'Planned' Factor: Neutral. While businesses can prepare, planned shutdowns lack the 'emergency adrenaline' that galvanizes residential action.

Population Growth: Tough. Calgary has grown 7% since 2024, making the 485-million-litre target statistically harder to hit—even with perfect compliance.

City officials anticipate compliance with mandatory outdoor bans (already irrelevant in winter), but expect indoor voluntary conservation to lag. Without significant corporate or industrial reductions, water consumption is likely to remain in the 'yellow' or 'red' zones—above 500 million litres—for much of March.

The Bigger Picture

The March shutdown is part of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main Improvements Project, a multi-year capital initiative to repair and eventually replace the aging infrastructure. The 2026 Budget, approved December 3, 2025, committed $201 million for infrastructure and $1.1 billion for water resources over the long term.

But as Ward 12 Coun. Mike Jamieson pointed out in February, the city has historically underspent its approved capital water budget from 2003 to 2024—a pattern that contributed to the current crisis.

The Independent Review Panel, chaired by Siegfried Kiefer, identified systemic weaknesses in water system management spanning two decades. The takeaway: Calgarians are now paying the price for deferred maintenance, and the March shutdown is just one chapter in a longer repair story.

For now, the city is betting on goodwill and muscle memory from June 2024. Whether that's enough to keep the taps running smoothly through April remains an open question.