Damming James Bay: I. Potential Impacts on Coastal Climate and the Water Balance

Abstract

The proposed grand Canal project calls for the damming of James Bay and the diversion of its water southward. This first part of a two‐part study models some potential impacts on the climate, water balance, and growth patterns in the James Bay coastal zone. Use is made of a linear relationship of Bowen ratio and temperature, developed from studies of coastal wetlands in southern and northwestern James Bay and central Hudson Bay. It is hypothesized that changing James Bay into a fresh‐water lake and disrupting its coastal currents would result in a delayed Bay ice melt of unknown length in the spring. Allowing a delay to vary between 0 and 30 days results in the prediction of lesser evaporation and greater water surplus. These differences in magnitude increase with the length of delayed melt, but in all cases are most strongly evident during the peak of the growing season. Colder and wetter conditions would have a strong ecological impact on all coastal areas of western and southern James Bay. In the northwest this could change the species composition of coastal flora, cause forests to retreat from the coast, and result in the growth of permafrost there.

Effect of mine dewatering on peatlands of the James Bay Lowland: the role of bioherms

“…() determined to be a key factor in the development of the landscape. The Hudson Bay Lowland represents one of the largest wetland complexes in the world (Riley, ), and understanding their hydrological response to environmental stressors is important because they affect freshwater discharge to major river systems and Hudson Bay itself and thus the transport of nutrients and contaminants (Kirk and St. Louis, ), regional climate (Rouse et al ., ) and global carbon cycle (Gorham, ; Roulet, ).…”

The Impact of Large-Scale Water Diversion Projects on the Water Supply Network: A Case Study in Southwest China

“…Therefore, enhancing the connectivity among water sources and improving the coordination and complementarity among supply networks are essential strategies to address sustainable development issues in arid regions. To settle this, many regions have constructed reservoirs and water diversion projects to strengthen the interconnection and intercommunication between different water sources and supply systems, alleviating water scarcity problems, for example, the Central Valley project [3] in the United States and the construction of large-scale water diversion projects in California [4], the James Bay water diversion project [5] in Canada, the Churchill-Nelson water diversion project [6], and the Sarda Sarova project [7] in India. These projects have enhanced the connectivity of water resources among basins, changed the allocation and management of water resources, effectively improved water resource utilization, and increased the resilience of water supply systems [8].…”

Beyond fill and spill: Hydrological connectivity in a sub‐arctic bog‐fen‐tributary complex in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada

“…In the James Bay Lowland (JBL), the southeastern portion of the larger Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL), patterned peatland complexes perform important water storage and conveyance functions within the landscape (Glaser, Siegel, et al, 2004). Peat accumulation has been favoured in this area for over 5000 years (Glaser, Hansen, et al, 2004) due to a flat regional landscape (Price & Woo, 1988), cool and moist climate (Rouse et al, 1992), and a layer of low permeability marine sediment deposited during the regional inundation of the Tyrell sea after glacial retreat ~8500 cal year BP (Lee, 1959; Price & Woo, 1988). Present day average peat depth is 2.4 m, though highly spatially variable, and is generally higher in bogs than in fens (Glaser, Hansen, et al, 2004).…”