The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that with Calgary reeling from a second catastrophic water main break in 18 months, an independent panel has faulted the city for ignoring two decades of warnings about the pipe's vulnerabilities and recommended the creation of a municipally controlled water corporation. The Globe's Patrick White writes that a six-member panel of industry experts was formed to investigate a June, 2024, break along the city's Bearspaw South Feeder Main, which carries roughly 60 per cent of Calgary's potable water. The failure prompted a local state of emergency that forced residents to follow various levels of water restrictions for months. Repairs have cost more than $38-million. In a report released on Wednesday, the panel found that officials became aware of vulnerabilities in the piping as early as 2004. "We found that there were systemic gaps that have existed for a long period of time in the city's water utility and the way it's being operated," panel chair Siegfried Kiefer, a former Atco executive, told city council during a special meeting on Wednesday afternoon. On Dec. 30, a new rupture brought new restrictions and localized boil-water advisories that have since been lifted.