What is Calgary’s Water Efficiency Plan?

4 days ago
3 min read

The City of Calgary is proposing updates to the Water Utility Bylaw 40M2006 as part of a broader Water Efficiency Plan - a long-term strategy to ensure safe, reliable water for every Calgarian, today and for generations to come. The plan focuses on reducing peak demand, managing long-term costs, and making smarter use of the infrastructure we currently have. The goal is to reduce per-capita water usage by 20% by 2040.

Calgary is a big city on two small rivers, the Bow and the Elbow. Using water efficiently protects the health of our rivers, reduces drought risk, and supports economic growth and quality of life for Calgarians and our neighbours.

As our city continues to grow, hotter, drier summers, aging infrastructure, and recent water system disruptions have reinforced the need to renew and strengthen Calgary’s approach to water efficiency.

The updated Water Efficiency Plan will be brought forward to City Council for consideration on April 28, 2026. Nothing has been decided or finalized yet, and public feedback will continue to be part of the conversation.

What's Being Proposed?

The Water Efficiency Plan is an 11-point package that includes recommendations for an outdoor watering schedule, updated water metering, and accelerated leak detection and repairs in aging infrastructure.

An outdoor watering schedule is being proposed that would assign designated watering days based on civic address and limit watering hours to early morning or evening to reduce evaporation.

It's important to note that the watering schedule would only apply to watering with sprinklers or automatic irrigation and things like watering food gardens, washing your car, or letting your kids run through the sprinkler on a hot day would not be affected by this schedule.

Addressing Infrastructure Leaks

A common question has been: why introduce a watering schedule while leaks in the system remain unresolved? City data shows approximately 22% of treated water is currently lost to leaks before reaching a tap. An Accelerated Water Loss Reduction Program is already underway to address this. The Water Efficiency Plan is designed to build on those anticipated savings, treating demand management and infrastructure repair as complementary efforts that move forward together, not one instead of the other.

Other Jurisdictions with Watering Schedules

Outdoor watering schedules are already common across Alberta as a practical tool for managing water demand amid increasing drought conditions and long-term shifts in climate and population. Several neighbouring communities have had programs in place for years:

Okotoks has operated under a water conservation bylaw since 2008, with one of the longest-standing year-round designated watering schedules in the region.
Airdrie introduced a new year-round water bylaw in 2025 using even/odd address scheduling.
High River assigns specific watering days by civic address - odd-numbered homes water Thursdays and Sundays, even-numbered homes water Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Diamond Valley, Cochrane, and Nanton all maintain similar seasonal or year-round schedules based on civic address.

Ways to Reduce Your Outdoor Water Consumption

If you're looking to use less municipal water for outdoor use, there are some great programs available to help.

The City has partnered with Green Calgary on a Rain Barrel Rebate Program, offering a $50 rebate per barrel on up to three rain barrels per household. Applications are open April 1 to October 31, 2026, at greencalgary.org.

Additionally, the City's YardSmart program also provides guidance on water-efficient landscaping and plant selection suited to Calgary's semi-arid climate.