Welcome to the Summer 2024 edition of News Splash. For those of us in the water sector, all eyes have been on the City of Calgary since June 5^th. Main breaks are not uncommon, but a break in a feedermain from the treatment plant is particularly critical.

There will be much to learn by all of us from the Calgary situation. Mayor Jyoti Gondek has announced a third-party review tasked with investigating the events that led to the break and providing recommendations regarding the resiliency of supply in the future.

As this has created a water supply issue rather than a water quality issue, this situation did not pose a risk to public health. Nevertheless, it took me back to the Walkerton water crisis in May 2000. It resulted in an in-depth public inquiry that recommended creating a multi-barrier approach to water protection. This resulted in a complete overhaul of provincial drinking water regulations and oversight in Ontario, including the adoption of a Drinking Water Quality Management Standard that requires annual assessments of hazards and risks by all municipal drinking water systems. We’ll follow the results of Calgary’s third-party review with interest and share what we learn with our Canadian Municipal Water Consortium members.

At this moment, CWN wants to salute the team in Calgary, led by one of our Canadian Municipal Water Consortium members, Nancy McKay, for their round-the-clock Herculean efforts to get the feedermain back in operation. The team has also kept the Mayor, Council, CAO and Calgarians informed of their progress. Nancy and her team are exceptional public servants who go about their work unnoticed most of the time, delivering safe, clean drinking water 24/7 to the 1.7 million people of Calgary. All Canadians owe a debt of gratitude to Nancy, her team and the thousands of dedicated water utility leaders, managers, operators and technicians serving our cities who allow us to take for granted that when we turn on the tap, we can expect plentiful, safe water to flow.

In other news, CWN and the entire Canadian water sector is excited to greet our global colleagues at the International Water Association’s World Water Congress in Toronto from August 11-15. A great big thank you and shout out to Robert Haller and his Canadian Water and Wastewater team for securing the conference and co-hosting the event.

As always, please share your thoughts with us on the newsletter, our activities, or other water challenges of interest.

I wish you all a safe and relaxing summer, close to, on, or in water.

Nicola