James Bay Project - Environmental Impact

Environmental Impact

Since its initial construction phase in the 1970s, the James Bay Project has created a complex chain reservoir by integrating all the watersheds of the eastern shores of the Hudson Bay from the southern tip of James Bay to Ungava Bay in the north, diverting the flow of water from four major rivers into its large body of water, ultimately changing the dynamics of the land, an environmental political phenomenon often regarded as a "first build, then paint green," policy. Two of these main diverted rivers are the Caniapiscau and Eastmain rivers into which the James Bay Project submerged about 11,000 km² of boreal forest and substantially modified the water flow of the La Grande River. The water flow was reduced by 90% at the mouth of the Eastmain River, near the Cree village of Eastmain, by 45% where the Caniapiscau River flows into the Koksoak River, and by 35% at the mouth of the Koksoak River, near the northern village of Kuujjuaq. The water flow of the La Grande River, on the other hand, was doubled, increasing from 1,700 m³/s to 3,400 m³/s (and from 500 m³/s to 5,000 m³/s in winter) near the Cree village of Chisasibi at the mouth of the La Grande River. The planned diversion of the Rupert River into the La Grande Complexe will further increase the flow of the La Grande River by about 420 m³/s; the flow of the Rupert River will, on the other hand, be reduced from 840 m³/s to about 420 m³/s at its mouth, near the Cree village of Waskaganish.

Other environmental impacts of the James Bay Project can be associated with geological tremors and drastic change in the physical layout of the land. The resultant fluctuating water levels as previously described affect areas of ecological importance, filling shorelines with considerable dead trees. Any shoreline plants that could potentially provide vegetation growth to replace any of the lost wetland habitats in these zones of periodic fluctuations are destroyed. Moreover, the James Bay Project is subject to earth tremors near the hydroelectric dams. This phenomenon is caused by the colossal weight of the artificial river, resulting in the shift of layers of rock, and although officials state that the reservoirs are only shallow lakes and the occurrence of such disaster is remote at best, these geological tremors could potentially fatally harm Quebec's local population and surrounding environment, as the region is typically dominated by slump-sensitive clays, and fault lines present in the St. Lawrence Valley.

Decomposing organic material in the reservoirs further added to the high levels of methyl mercury (a highly bio-accumulative environmental toxin) in local lakes and rivers, a growing concern to many environmentalists that stems from geology and atmospheric pollution from the coal-fired electric generation plants of the United States and Ontario, Canada, but this impact has been shown to dissipate after 20 to 30 years. Increased levels of mercury in bodies of water however, could still potentially be harmful, as methyl mercury is formed in aquatic systems and because it is not readily eliminated from organisms, it is bio-magnified in aquatic food chains. Thus, methyl mercury concentrations steadily increase through the food chain, and if ingested by humans, it could lead to mercury poisoning.

Other changes in the delicate balance of the James Bay ecosystem can be illustrated through the animal migration patterns, salmon spawning, and destruction of wildlife habitats. Diverting rivers towards the James Bay could cause changes in the geographical pattern of river water discharge into the sea, affecting major salmon spawning in the Larch River and beaver habitats. Furthermore, caribou population who has been expanding since the 1950s have adopted migration routes throughout much of the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, its members increasingly found in the James Bay area, the valley of the Caniapiscau, and around George River. Important variations in the water flow of the Caniapiscau River from 1981 to 1984, during the period when the Caniapiscau Reservoir was being filled, may have contributed to the death of 10,000 Woodland Caribou in September 1984 (about 1.5% of the herd at that time). Traditionally a migration pattern for years, but the subsequent fast raging tumult of the water proved too much and led to their death. However, the reduced flow of the Caniapiscau and Koksoak rivers has permanently reduced the risk of natural floods on the lower Caniapiscau during the period of caribou migrations. About 30,000 caribou are killed each year by Inuit, Cree and southern hunters, mostly American and European. Furthermore, seasonal reversal in the flow of rivers can potentially rob the rich nutrients that thrive in various tidal flats and coastal marshes, affecting millions of migratory birds such as waterfowls, Canadian geese, and various inland birds that use the coastlines of both the James and Hudson Bays during their spring and fall migrations.

The potential for massive greenhouse gas emissions in large hydroelectric reservoirs has also generated considerable debate since the Kyoto conference on climate change of 1997. However, greenhouse gas emissions from the northern reservoirs of the La Grande complex are between 2% and 8% of the emissions associated with any conventional (fossil fuel) power generation (and from 1% to 4% of the greenhouse emissions of the typical coal-fired power generation plant of Canada or the United States).