Reports to Council

Byron McCorkell, the City’s Chief Administrative Officer; Kristen Rodrigue, the City’s Communications and Strategic Partnerships Director; and Jen Fretz, the City’s Civic Operations Director, provided Council with a summary of the response to and lessons learned from the water main break in the east end of Kamloops on May 10 to 21, 2026.  

Civic Operations crews were alerted to the water main leak on River Street on May 10. Over the next few days, while crews attempted to locate and repair the leak, reservoir water levels dropped below acceptable levels, and affected residents were intermittently asked to reduce and/or cease water use. On May 14, the repairs were completed, and by May 15, the final backfilling and system pressurization were completed.

From May 15 to May 21, work shifted to system flushing, water quality testing, and the staged removal of public health restrictions. On May 18, results from the second round of testing were received, reviewed, and provided to Interior Health. That day, the “Boil Water” advisories were lifted for Valleyview, Juniper Ridge, Rose Hill, and Campbell Creek. On May 21, Interior Health authorized the removal of the “Do Not Consume” advisory in Barnhartvale.

The communications issued throughout the event included:

• 17 posts made to the City’s four social channels (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky), with 687,151 views (views exclude Bluesky)
• 103,391 notifications sent through 48 alerts to seven zones via Voyent Alert! and registration for Voyent Alert! increased by 4,421
• the event landing page moved from Kamloops.ca to LetsTalk.Kamloops.ca on May 14, and the Let’s Talk page had 21,950 views, with 16,857 visits from 8,758 visitors
• nine media advisories/news releases and six media briefings

To learn from what happened and improve in future situations, teams met internally to debrief the event. Interviews were also held with representatives from the East Kamloops Business Improvement Association, members of the media, and neighbourhood associations. Some of the lessons learned include:

• earlier, more transparent updates about the challenges and expected outcomes to better prepare residents and businesses
• better integration and coordination with media, Council, and community partners to help ensure broader reach both within and beyond the affected area, as well as more tailored communications for specific audiences
• more education on the capabilities of Voyent Alert! to ensure residents are registered in the way that works best for them (app, text, email, or phone call) and for all the locations they need (home, work, parents’ home, school)
• the need to better align how incidents are communicated with how they are experienced by residents and businesses, as feedback from residents, businesses, and partners indicated that the tone, timing, and visibility of communications should more clearly acknowledge community impact, even when technical risks are being actively managed

Some things that worked well included:

• excellent teamwork between the Department Operations Centre and the field crews to carry out a repair on a very large, very deep critical water main
• Let’s Talk proved far superior to the Kamloops.ca alert banner as a single source of truth due to its ability to display comprehensive information
• physical signage had a positive impact on reaching impacted residents

A heartfelt thank you was extended to Kamloops residents for stepping up in meaningful ways, including sharing accurate information, reducing water use, and volunteering at water stations. Kamloops residents’ co-operation, patience, and willingness to do their part were highlighted as critical to the success of the response.

View the full memo.
View the presentation within the Council meeting slide deck.
Contact for further information:
Byron McCorkell | 250-828-3498

View the full Council Highlights for this meeting