The head of the Capital Region's water systems is watching Calgary closely, as that city struggles with a state of emergency after a water main break.
"I admit I've been following the news closely," says the General Manager of the CRD's Integrated Water Services Alicia Fraser. She says a major water main break is a risk for everyone, especially in place that's earthquake prone.
The Calgary break happened nearly two weeks ago and forced the city and surrounding regions to conserve water. Officials say the main ruptured area has been fixed, and engineers are working on repairing structural deficiencies in five other spots along the pipe.
"It is certainly something that we want to learn from. That said, we do have a number of plans in place and a number of different strategies to address some of those weak points in our system," says Fraser.
The Victoria area's equivalent to the main line that ruptured in Calgary is the Kapoor Tunnel. But Fraser says it's a different set up. "In their case it is a manufactured, pre-stressed concrete pressure pipe. But in our case the Kapoor Tunnel is actually a drilled tunnel through the mountain so it's not something that's been manufactured. It has been sculpted out of the rock. So there are risks to that tunnel but they are different than the transmission main break that Calgary is dealing with."
Still, the CRD's Water Supply Master Plan calls for a back-up line to be created. It also calls for the twinning of other transmission lines and putting in a second intake.
The master plan is to be rolled out over the next several decades, but has been criticized for its use of Development Cost Charges to offset the price.