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Regina faces temporary water shortage amid plant upgrades

The city is asking residents to conserve water, including taking shorter showers and not watering lawns.
kurtis-doney-may-29th-2025
Deputy City Manager of City Operations Kurtis Doney is asking residents to avoid watering their lawns, washing cars and more as the city is experiencing low water supplies.

REGINA — The City of Regina is experiencing a temporary water supply shortage due to ongoing upgrades at the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant.

Deputy City Manager of City Operations Kurtis Doney said some of the new processes at the plant aren't producing as much water as expected, resulting in the city using their emergency tap wells.

“We turned on our emergency wells on Tuesday morning, and so we’re working through the challenges.”

The emergency wells can provide the city 25 to 30 per cent of the water needed, said Doney.

However, those wells have already gone down from two days of shortage for water usage to one day.  During peak summertime, the city could see upwards of 110 to 120 megalitres of water used daily.

Doney also said the city’s reservoirs are low.

This has led to Regina asking residents to limit their water usage for the next few days.

“[This] includes not watering your lawns or gardens, reducing shower times, running dishwashers and washing machines only when they're full, delaying washing your vehicle and do not fill any hot tubs or pools," said Doney.

Regina is also limiting their water usage by temporarily turning off spray pads, not watering parks with city water, not continuing to fill outdoor pools, not washing vehicles unless it's needed for health and safety and not performing street sweeping.

For services/businesses that use lots of water, including car washes, Doney said they’ve asked those places to review their operations for reducing water use.

As for Regina Fire, Doney said there aren’t concerns for their operations during this water shortage.

In the event water usage isn’t reduced, Doney mentioned the city could take stricter measures.

In the meantime, residents may see yellow/brown tinge from well water due to more minerals in the groundwater, but Doney assured the water is still safe to drink.

The city said this temporary water supply shortage should last only a few days, but an exact time wasn't given.

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