Backlash from Conrich residents over a low water supply has re-emerged, after a recent grassfire in east Rocky View County led to firefighters drawing on the hamlet’s local water source to help battle the blaze.
“All we are asking is if there is enough water in the area,” said Conrich and Cambridge Park resident Sunny Samra. “If we ask the developer, the answer is based on their convenience and what favours them.”
According to Samra, there have been three fires in the area in the last two months, which led to drops in water pressure.
Other residents are worried the current situation could present a dangerous outcome, as they feel if a large fire were to break out, firefighters wouldn’t be able to access enough water to put it out.
Currently, water supply is handled by the developers in the area, Amar Developments. There has been a contentious history between Conrich residents and the company, as residents have opposed Amar’s development applications for the area before.
In July 2020, RVC council voted to pass an Amar development that garnered a large amount of opposition, to the point where 100 Conrich residents showed up at County Hall to voice their disapproval.
Before a development application to develop six business/commercial lots was approved in the hamlet last year, Area Coun. Jerry Gautreau moved to table the matter, in order to allow additional information on water solutions to be brought back to council. At a special meeting only two days later on June 25, Gautreau sought to rescind the tabling motion and move ahead with the amendments and redesignation by adding them to the agenda as emergent items.
As rationale for moving ahead, Gautreau said "land use" was not the time to address water issues.
“We took them to court for that, and it is still before the courts,” Samra said. “Why would you do that when you told 200 people that you’ll be tabling it to get a water report?”
Relations between residents and developer soured even more when residents received a notice from the company that their water rates would increase from $3.71 to $4.45. In a story published by Livewire Calgary, residents claimed the fee increase was punishment for their opposition to the development.
Owner and director of Amar Developments, Rani Duhra, said in the story the rate increase had nothing to do with the upcoming development, nor opposition from residents.
“This development will be in the ground for a couple years, so that doesn’t make sense,” she said.
When reached for comment, Duhra, said no complaints have officially been made by residents. Additionally, with the company’s development moving forward, part of the plan will require developers to connect to RVC’s potable water system. Duhra said in a few months, the County will be the area’s new water utility provider.
Samra said the reason there have been no complaints made is because there has already been a complaint filed with the Alberta Utilities Commission.
RVC supplied the Rocky View Weekly with a statement that because the current water source is not County-owned, it is not a County-related issue.
“It is the sole responsibility of the utility owners to ensure adequate service is being provided,” the statement read. “RVC is taking steps to eventually own the system, but at this time, that is not anticipated to be completed before 2022.
“Until and unless that happens, this is not a County issue.”
Since their issues with council, residents feel they are in limbo as they wait to be connected to a more suitable water source.
Samra said in RVC, you can pay a certain amount for land and deal with water wells and septic systems on your own. He and his family bought the property they did as it was a serviced lot.
“We pay a lot to live here,” he said. “When you buy a serviced lot, you shouldn’t have to worry about not having water. It’s not fair. We have paid for the service lots, we deserve to get those services.”
Correction: A previous version of this story reported that Conrich residents had run out of water completely on May 6. Representatives from the Langdon Waterworks Utility company notified the Rocky View Weekly that readings of the area's water pressure during the fire dropped to a low 17 pounds per square inch (PSI) for a period of three minutes, while the average on May 6 was about 68 PSI. We apologize for this error.
Jordan Stricker, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @Jay_Strickz
