Wednesday, May 13, 2026
The Town of Leader, SK has announced it will pause drawing water from the South Saskatchewan River after a fuel spill into the river near Medicine Hat, Alta.
IN a Facebook post on May 1, the Town of Leader stated “At this time, the Town reservoir is full, and we will not need to draw water from the river until the contamination has safely passed our intake.
“We are continuing to work closely with the Water Security Agency to monitor the situation and will provide updates as more information becomes available.” the statement said, adding “the safety of our water supply remains our top priority, and we appreciate the community’s understanding.”
Saskatoon Water also released a statement on May 4 stating it is aware of the fuel spill and that Saskatoon’s water supply is “safe and is expected to remain safe,” adding both the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency and Water Security Agency have been managing the spill response and advised the City of Saskatoon when the spill occurred.
“Diesel is a volatile substance and lighter than water and it is expected to dissipate long before any of the spilled fuel could reach Saskatoon. Even if any spilled fuel were to reach Saskatoon after lake Diefenbaker, the concentration would be far below any level of concern for public consumption,” the Saskatoon Water statement said. “If that were to happen, an expected concentration would be one ten-millionth of a milligram per litre after Lake Diefenbaker – or one part per 10 million litres.”
The statement added the City of Saskatoon’s raw water intake uses a mid-stream intake to help avoid intake of floating substances such as diesel fuel instead of gathering water from the surface.
