Hydroelectric Development in the Hudson Bay Bioregion
All three provinces bordering Hudson Bay have looked to the rivers that flow into this inland sea to meet southern energy demands. While the James Bay I and II projects have received the most national and international media attention due to their enormous size and potential impacts, Manitoba and Ontario have also harnessed (or plan to harness) much of the energy of their northern rivers.
Manitoba
Manitoba became involved in energy production in the early 1970s when it diverted three-quarters of the flow of the Churchill River into the Nelson River. Dams caused the inundation of 600 square kilometres of land, producing 3,300 megawatts (MOO) annually with another 600 MW schedules to come on line next year. This first phase of work has cost $2.9 billion. Manitoba Hydro currently plans to build a sixth dam along the Nelson River called the Conawapa project which would flood an additional three square kilometres of land and produce 1,390 MW. Expected to be producing energy by 2001, the projected cost of Conawapa is $5.5 billion. However, the decision by the board of Ontario Hydro to defer the purchase of 1,000 MW of power from Manitoba Hydro puts the Conawapa project in serious doubt. Conawapa is undergoing a joint federal-provincial environmental assessment which is currently defining the guidelines for the environmental impact statement. Manitoba has identified another ten dam sites for future development.
Ontario
Hydroelectric development in the Moose River basin on the Ontario side of James Bay started in 1910, with the most recent project completed in the late 1960s. In total, Ontario Hydro and private developers built 15 stations with a generating capacity greater than two megawatts on the Mattagami and Abitibi rivers. In 1989, the province's energy demand/supply plan proposed further hydroelectric development on rivers within the Moose River basin. Under the plan, 1,890 MW would be produced through the development of six new sites and the expansion of six existing sites at a cost of $4.85 billion. However, in October of 1991, Ontario suspended plans for all development except for four of the six expansion sites until a plan for the area had been developed with local aboriginal communities. The four expansion sites are known as the Mattagami River complex and are estimated to cost $825 million.
In 1990, Ontario Hydro submitted an Environmental Assessment document to the provincial Minister of the Environment requesting approval to increase the capacity of the Mattagami River complex sites. The provincial government is currently deciding whether to hold public hearings on the proposal. The federal government is also reviewing the document under the Environmental Assessment Review Process.
Quebec
Quebec launched its hydroelectric development in the Hudson Bay bioregion with James Bay I in 1971. Work on James Bay I has been undertaken in two phases: La Grande Phase I which started in 1973 and ended in 1984, and La Grande Phase II. Under Phase 1,1,500 kilometres of roads, 5 villages, 5 airport, and 15 work camps were built and seven rivers were diverted to double the flow of the La Grande River. With over two hundred dams and dikes, La Grande Phase I flooded in excess of 10,000 square kilometres of land. Phase 11 is expected to be completed in 1996, and together with Phase 1, will generate 15,550 MW at a cost of $24.4 billion. The proposed Great Whale Project, often called James Bay II, will divert water from four major rivers, including the Little Great Whale River, into the Great Whale River. The decision by New York Power Authority in 1991 to cancel their contract for 1,000 MW caused Hydro-Quebec to curtail the Great Whale project by 40 per cent. As a result, there are now no new dams planned for the Nastopoka River or its tributaries. The downsized version of the Great Whale project today entails five dams, 133 dikes, and four reservoirs covering 4,387 square kilometres which, with three generating stations, will produce 3,168 MW. Energy production is slated for 1998. The projected cost of Great Whale is $12.6 billion. The project is currently undergoing a joint federal, provincial, Inuit, and Cree environmental assessment. Environmental impact study guidelines have recently been issued to Hydro-Quebec.
James Bay II also includes long-term plans to harness the Nottaway, Broadback, and Rupert rivers (NBR project) by the year 2007. The plans call for 16 dams and 115 dikes to create reservoirs covering 6,497 square kilometres. Hydro-estimates the cost of the NBR project at $16 billion.