Regional Water Servicing
Regional Water Servicing
Calgary’s role in providing drinking water, wastewater treatment and stormwater servicing to customers beyond our city limits.
Providing water services beyond our boundaries
The City of Calgary’s water utility provides people and businesses in our city with clean, safe drinking water, the treatment of wastewater and the drainage and treatment of stormwater (e.g. rain and melting snow) that moves through our city.
We also provide some water and wastewater utility servicing to regional customers outside Calgary’s municipal boundaries.
Regional servicing demonstrates Calgary’s commitment to being a regional partner. Guided by Council Policy, regional servicing aligns with the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board’s (CMRB) Growth and Servicing Plans. Our provision of regional servicing supports City strategies and policies, including those related to environmental, climate change and water security impacts. Regional servicing also supports regional growth strategies.
We are committed to delivering safe, clean and high-quality drinking water to city and regional customers through proactive stewardship and source water protection.
We do not provide regional servicing that compromises service levels to our existing customers or where it impacts our ability to service current and future growth within our own boundaries.
Calgary’s regional water servicing customers
For more than 60 years, Calgary has provided water and wastewater services to a few of our regional neighbors, where the provision of services supports sustainable growth, maintains watershed health, is cost efficient, and where there is proven value for both the regional customer and Calgary.
We don’t serve our regional customers in the exact same way as we serve Calgarians, as we do not operate the utility services in those jurisdictions.
- The City is responsible for the delivery of bulk water to our regional customers from within and up to Calgary city limits only. Likewise, we receive our regional customers’ wastewater for treatment at Calgary city limits.
- Each regional customer is responsible for all transmission of water and wastewater outside of Calgary city limits, as well as local water distribution, wastewater collection and retail servicing.
Click to enlarge map.
| Regional customer | Water service | Wastewater service |
|---|---|---|
| City of Airdrie | ||
| City of Chestermere | ||
| Foothills County (Spruce Meadows only) | ||
| Tsuut’ina Nation | ||
|
Town of Cochrane (includes Cochrane Lake and Springbank Schools) |
||
| Rocky View County (Elbow Valley & Bearspaw School) | ||
| CNOOC Power Plant (formerly Nexen) in Rocky View County | ||
| Town of Strathmore |
Regional servicing policy
The provision of regional servicing is guided by Council’s 2004 Policy on Regional Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Servicing, which was most recently updated in 2024 to align to the CMRB’s Growth Plan.
The Policy
- Sets the direction on how Administration manages requests for regional servicing.
- Outlines the specific information required to evaluate the impacts and risks associated with regional servicing, which is necessary to support Administration's recommendations to Council on regional servicing requests.
- Defines the decision-making authority for regional servicing requests.
- Provides guidance on the ongoing administration of existing regional servicing agreements.
Regional servicing master service agreements
Master service agreements are in place between each regional customer and The City for the provision of potable water, wastewater or stormwater servicing.
These are long-term legal agreements that are reviewed regularly and updated every four-year business cycle to ensure the volume supplied and rates charged for servicing are up to date.
Regional servicing rates
In alignment with industry best practices, we set rates using a cost-of-service approach that allocates costs fairly among different customer classes, including regional customers.
How we determine regional servicing rates
When setting rates for regional water and wastewater services, we adhere to the following guiding principles to ensure transparency and fairness.
- Financial sustainability
- Fairness and equity to customers
- Water resource management
To ensure our regional customers cover all costs for the services they receive, cost-of-service studies are conducted every four-year business cycle. Regional servicing rates are then determined based on the results of these studies and are subject to Council approval.
What our regional customers pay for
Regional water servicing operates on a 100 per cent cost recovery basis. This means the rates we charge regional customers are designed to recover 100 per cent of the cost of providing the regional service, including:
- Volume - The volume of potable water delivered to the customer and/or the volume of wastewater received from the regional customer.
- Infrastructure - The regional customer’s use of fixed assets, including both current and future infrastructure needed to meet capacity requirements, plus the return on equity. This is especially important as population growth in Calgary and the region (both existing and future new regional customers) place similar demands on the water, wastewater and stormwater systems, and triggers the need for additional treatment capacity.
Frequently asked questions
Why does The City provide regional water servicing?
As noted in the regional servicing policy, The City is committed to delivering safe, clean and high-quality drinking water to city and regional customers through proactive stewardship and source water protection.
The City’s provision of regional water servicing allows for economic development opportunities that are both regionally and provincially significant. Our provision of regional servicing supports City strategies and policies, including those related to environmental, climate change and water security impacts. Regional servicing also supports regional growth strategies.
Regional servicing can support fiscally responsible regional planning that balances economic and social development with environmental protection and aligns with City policies.
Regional servicing:
- Promotes water conservation, minimizes water and land consumption and partners with other governments to enhance environmental sustainability. (Environmental Policy)
- Fosters the distribution of safe, reliable drinking water now and in the future. (Social Wellbeing Policy)
- Advances Council’s vision to create and sustain a vibrant, healthy, safe and caring community by providing surrounding municipalities with safe, reliable drinking water. (Triple Bottom Line Policy)
- Carefully manages Calgary’s water supply and demand to ensure there is a secure water supply for The City’s customers now and in the future. (Water Security Framework)
- Advances vital collaborative work with the province and neighbouring municipalities on an adaptive long-term regional water supply strategy. (Water Security Framework)
Do regional rates achieve 100 per cent cost recovery?
Yes, all costs allocated to regional customers for services provided are recovered through the rates.
Rates are set looking forward, based on cost and demand projections. They are designed to recover the regional share of existing and planned fixed assets.
How is regional growth factored into long-range infrastructure planning?
Regional growth projections are considered in our long-range capital infrastructure processes and plans. New regional service requests are assessed to understand impacts on our current and planned utility system.
It’s important to understand that regional water servicing uses City-owned infrastructure only within Calgary’s city limits, and the costs for use of this Calgary-owned infrastructure is included in regional customer rates. Infrastructure beyond Calgary city limits is owned, operated and paid for by the regional customer.
How are regional water servicing master service agreements (MSAs) administered?
The City’s MSAs are typically in place for 20 years and updated every four years. The MSAs are designed to be updated with each business cycle to revise the annual contracted volumes that The City will provide to each customer for the next four years.
The contracted volumes are a critical input into the cost-of-service study that attributes utility costs to each customer class to inform customer rates, including the regional customer rate class. The rates we charge regional customers are designed to recover 100 per cent of the cost of providing the regional service.
Does The City currently provide stormwater servicing to regional customers?
We do not currently provide stormwater services to any regional customers. However, our Regional Servicing Policy outlines the process for any future regional servicing requests. These requests would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to ensure alignment with Council Policy.
Our Policy also clarifies that overland drainage is not considered a regional service and is managed and legislated through other legislations and plans.
What is The City’s Policy on Regional Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Servicing position on water licence transfers to serve regional customers?
Our Policy on Regional Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Servicing states that The City will retain full ownership of its water licences for future growth, and that The City will not transfer its water licences to any entity.
New water servicing requests would be directed to bring their own water licence strategy as part of their application for Administration to evaluate before making recommendations for approval in-principle.