The Great Recycling and Northern Development Canal is a long proposed project in the James Bay region of Canada. James Bay receives a considerable amount of fresh water runoff, as many rivers fall within its watershed, and it also has a relatively limited connection to the larger Hudson Bay, thus resulting in a relatively low salinity level as compared to other oceanic bodies of water. The project would involve constructing a barrier to separate James Bay from Hudson Bay and thereby create an enormous freshwater reservoir over time. In addition, the project envisions constructing canals to carry this fresh water to the Great Lakes where it could be further pumped to water-hungry communities across North America. This project was designed to establish major water lines between Canada and the United States. The feasibility and impact of this project were highly contested in Canada. Proposed in the 1960s by Newfoundland engineer Thomas Kierans, the project briefly captured the imagination of a number of Canadian public figures in the 1980s, including Quebec premier Robert Bourassa. However, it has never been seriously advanced by any government.
