Okotoks Aquatic Center at capacity with influx of Calgarians – HighRiverOnline.com

The City of Okotoks has said its recreational and water facilities are operating at full capacity following the water main break in Calgary.

In a statement to Okotoks Online, the city said it welcomes its Calgary neighbors, but its first priority is bringing these services and programs to local residents.

“We have made efforts to meet some needs, but we are currently beyond capacity,” the statement read. “Thank you to the members of our community for their patience.”

The city said that to ensure you have a place to swim in the lane, you must pre-book your swim sessions at activeokotoks.ca. to help manage increased demand and reduce wait times.

Okotoks isn’t the only neighboring community experiencing an increase in people coming from Calgary to use their facilities.

The SLS Center in Cochrane is doing its best to accommodate an influx of Calgarians through its programs.

Last Saturday alone, the aquatic center experienced a 35 percent week-over-week increase in pool usage.

Meanwhile, Calgary city officials are targeting July 5 as the estimated “lowest” date to relax water restrictions and complete repairs to the five remaining damaged areas of the southern Bearspaw water supply line.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek reiterated that repair work is underway on the additional damaged areas in the main supply line, and yesterday the sections of the pipe were completely excavated. Work has started to cut away the parts where the damaged areas have been identified.

–With files from Noel Edey and Anna Ferensowicz