The groundwater under Saskatoon, in three dimensions

Every neighbourhood rises with its risk score. Switch layers to see the water table and clay soils that drive it — the animated plane beneath the city is the water table itself, drawn to depth from WSA well records.

Data last refreshed July 1, 2026 · 66 neighbourhoods · WSA wells · AAFC soils · City profiles

Height & colour = composite risk index (0–100)

LowModerateElevatedHigh

Blue plane: water table ~22 ft below street level (city median) · typical basement floor ≈ 8 ft

City-flagged for groundwater

Drag to orbit · scroll to zoom · tap a neighbourhood

How to read this map

The risk index is a weighted blend of five components, and every one of them is a layer on this map. Tap a neighbourhood to see exactly how many points each component adds to its score.

Risk index — bar height and colour show each neighbourhood's 0–100 composite groundwater & sump-pump risk index, in the same four tiers used across this site.
Water table (30% of the index) — taller, brighter bars sit closer to groundwater (median depth from nearby WSA water-well driller reports). Hover or tap a neighbourhood and the blue plane below the city moves to its water-table depth; the ruler at the edge marks feet below street level, and a typical basement floor is about 8 ft down.
Clay soil (20%) — bar height and colour show the share of clay-dominated soil from the AAFC Saskatchewan Detailed Soil Survey. Clay drains poorly, so rain and meltwater linger against foundations.
New builds (20%) — the share of homes built 2011–2021 from City age-bucket data. Newer subdivisions have driven Saskatoon's reported groundwater problems.
Owner exposure (10%) — the owner-occupancy rate: how many households directly carry basement and sump-pump costs.
City flag (20%) — neighbourhoods the City of Saskatoon has publicly named for groundwater problems, also shown as floating orange markers in every layer. Where a component has no data for a neighbourhood, it is skipped and the remaining weights are rescaled — the same rule the published scores use.

Risk index scores are estimates, not true measured values for any specific property. They combine aggregated public datasets (water-well records, regional soil maps, City planning figures) into a weighted neighbourhood-level index. Conditions vary lot by lot. Not a substitute for a professional home or geotechnical inspection — verify against source documents.

Prefer the flat version? The 2D map and ranked list cover the same 66 neighbourhoods, and every one links to a full written report.