Source Water Protection

Much of the Bow and Elbow River watersheds that supply Calgary's drinking water remain relatively pristine. Protecting our drinking water at its source is critical to ensure we maintain clean, safe, reliable drinking water to our customers and other downstream communities that also depend on the rivers.

Calgary's approach to safe drinking water

Drinking water systems contain three main parts: the source watershed, the drinking water treatment plant and the distribution system. The City of Calgary has a Source Water Protection Policy that was adopted by Council in 2020 to ensure we integrate and embed watershed protection into land use decisions within Calgary and the broader region. The Source Water Protection Plan is one of the foundational plans supporting this policy with established goals and priority actions The City is taking to protect source water.

water

Source water: Water in its natural or raw state, prior to being withdrawn for treatment and distribution as a drinking water supply.

Calgary's source watersheds

All municipal utilities draw their water from a source environment. For the City of Calgary, this includes surface water in the Bow and Elbow river systems. This water is ultimately generated by the source watershed, which includes all lands from which water collects and flows downstream to the municipal treatment plans.

The City of Calgary has two watersheds associated with each of its two drinking water plants:

  • A 7,800km2 source watershed upstream from the Bearspaw water treatment plant on the Bow River
  • A 1,200km2 source watershed upstream from the Glenmore water treatment plant on the Elbow River.

These two watersheds include lands governed by the federal, provincial, municipal and First Nations governments. As The City lacks direct jurisdiction and control over land and water use outside of its boundaries, effective source water protection requires close cooperation with Indigenous Peoples and other interested parties and partners upstream of Calgary.

Some of The City's source water is also located within city limits. It is important that we protect watersheds within city limits as well as those outside of Calgary. The highest risks have been identified as stormwater runoff from land development and transportation systems, and widespread wildfires on forest lands or grasslands.

Jurisdictions in Calgary's source watersheds

​Jurisdiction ​% of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed ​% of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed % of Total Source Watershed Area​
Jurisdiction: ​National Park % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​46% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​0% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​39%
Jurisdiction: ​Provincial Park % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​21% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​31% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​22%
Jurisdiction: ​Other Provincial Crown Land % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​13% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​31% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​15%
Jurisdiction: ​Rocky View County % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​10% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​20% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​12%
Jurisdiction: ​First Nations Reserves % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​6% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​14% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​8%
Jurisdiction: ​Town of Canmore % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​0.8% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​0% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​0.7%
Jurisdiction: ​City of Calgary % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​0.2% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​3.7% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​0.7%
Jurisdiction: ​Town of Cochrane % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​0.4% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​0% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​0.3%
Jurisdiction: ​Other % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​2.5% % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​0.2% % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​2.2%
Jurisdiction: ​Total Area (km2) % of Bearspaw Plant's Source Watershed: ​7,768 km2 % of Glenmore Plant's Source Watershed: ​1,227 km2 % of Total Source Watershed Area: ​8,995 km2

Vulnerable areas in Calgary's source watersheds

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Working together

Proactive source water protection with management actions, partnerships, and stewardship can provide a wide range of economic, social, and environmental benefits. Expenditures to protect source water such as riparian and wetland restoration, can be more cost effective than building and operating more advanced treatment facilities.

By protecting our source water, we are taking steps to ensure we have reliable, clean water for current and future generations.

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