James Bay Project from TCE Standard
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James Bay Project was a monumental hydroelectric-power development on the east coast of
JAMES BAY was initiated in 1971 and is still
incomplete. The $13.7-billion project entailed massive diversions of water from the
EASTMAIN, Opinaca and
Caniapiscau (KOKSOAK) rivers to dammed reservoirs on
LA GRANDE RIVIÈRE; the average flow of La Grande
Rivière was increased from 1700 to 3300 m³/s. A tiered spillway, 3 times the height of Niagara Falls, was blasted from the bedrock, and La Grande-2 (LG-2), which was completed in 1982 and has the world's largest underground powerhouse, generated 5328 MW of electric power. The completion of LG-3 (Feb 1984) and LG-4 (May 1984), which ended Phase I of the project, increased Hydro-Québec's generating capacity to 10 300 MW.
The project has raised controversy for its effect on the native people and environment. The project flooded 11
500 km2 of wilderness land that is home to Cree and Inuit. The flooding has also created mercury contamination in fish, released from rotting vegetation in the reservoirs. Announced by Québec Premier Robert
BOURASSA in 1971, it was contested by the Cree, who had not even been notified. In 1975 the Cree surrendered their
LAND CLAIMS for $225 million (see
JAMES BAY AND NORTHERN QUÉBEC AGREEMENT), retaining special hunting and fishing rights. The village of Fort-George (pop 2373) at the mouth of La Grande R was uprooted and relocated upstream. It is now called Chisasibi. Eastmain (pop 356) now lies in a saltwater estuary, as Rivière Eastmain has been reduced to a trickle. Vast areas of wilderness have been inundated and forests incinerated in an attempt to clear debris.
Phase II of the project began in 1989 with the development of LG-1 at the mouth of La Grande R where it empties into James Bay, but remains unfinished. James Bay II consists of the Grande Baleine (Great Whale) Complex and other dams on the Great Whale, Nottaway, and Rupert Rivers. Together, James Bay I and II will divert and dam 9 free-flowing rivers and flood an area the size of Belgium. The entire project is planned to have a capacity of 27 000 MW and is estimated to cost $63 billion.
Much of the power from James Bay II was to be sold to the states of New York, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont in the United States. In 1992, then-governor Mario Cuomo of New York directed the New York Power Authority to cancel its contract with Hydro-Québec in favour of energy conservation and purchase power from other sources. Due to the lack of a market for its hydropower, completion of the Great Whale Complex has been suspended.
Author
JAMES MARSH
See also:
James Bay
from TCE Standard James Bay is the southern appendage of
HUDSON BAY. It is about 160 km wide between Pointe Louis-XIV on the east The bay was discovered in 1610 by Henry
HUDSON and named for Thomas
JAMES, who entered the bay in 1631 and spent a difficult winter on Charlton Island. The bay was long a centre for trade as
CREE brought furs down the many rivers draining the surrounding area. The major rivers, from east to west, are
LA GRANDE RIVIÈRE,
EASTMAIN,
RUPERT, Nottaway, Harricana,
MOOSE,
ALBANY and
ATTAWAPISKAT. Fort Rupert,
MOOSE FACTORY and Fort Albany - at the mouths of the rivers of the same names - were active Hudson's Bay Company posts.
MOOSONEE, Ont, the largest settlement in the area, is the northern terminus of the Ontario Northland Railway. There are native settlements at Chisasibi (formerly Fort-George), Eastmain and Attawapiskat. Polar Bear Provincial Park (Ontario) borders on the northwest coast.
coast and Cape Henrietta Marie on the west. The Québec-Ontario border is at the bottom of the bay, and its numerous islands were administered by the Northwest Territories but are now part of the territory of Nunavut. Akimiski is the largest island with an area of 3001 km2.
La Grande Rivière from TCE Standard
La Grande Rivière, 893 km long, rises in the rugged forest highlands of central Québec and drains west into JAMES BAY.
Its 97 600 km2 drainage basin is the third-largest in Québec. The river district has long been populated by CREE, whose hunting territories stretch along to its banks and tributaries. In 1803 the establishment of a fur-trade post at the river mouth marked the origins of the modern native settlement of Fort George. For many years the river too was called the Fort George.
During the 1970s it was transformed by the JAMES BAY PROJECT, a scheme to divert major rivers flowing into eastern James Bay for hydroelectric development. Phase one of the project involved erecting huge dams on the La Grande and flooding low-lying areas to create reservoirs. After a prolonged legal dispute, an agreement was signed with the native people who feared the destruction of their wildlife resources, and construction on the river was completed.
Author DANIEL FRANCIS