The concept of transporting water from the abundant water resources of western North America to its arid interior regions has captivated engineers and policymakers for over seven decades. These ambitious proposals represent some of the most audacious hydraulic engineering schemes ever conceived, yet they remain largely unrealized due to enormous costs, environmental concerns, and complex political challenges.

Historical Mega-Projects and Continental Schemes

The North American Water and Power Alliance (NAWAPA) stands as the most comprehensive and ambitious water transfer proposal in North American history. Developed by the Ralph M. Parsons Company in 1964, this $100 billion plan would have created a continental water management system of unprecedented scale. The scheme envisioned collecting "surplus" water from Alaska, the Canadian Yukon, and British Columbia's high-precipitation regions and distributing it across 33 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces, and northern Mexico.wikipedia+3

NAWAPA would have required constructing a massive 500-mile-long reservoir in the Rocky Mountain Trench, created through a series of dams, tunnels, and canals. Water would flow south through this system, with some diverted east across central Canada to stabilize Great Lakes water levels, while the remainder would enter the United States in northern Montana to supply the Colorado River system and High Plains. The project promised to deliver 158 million acre-feet of freshwater annually—equivalent to "2.5 Niagara Falls".wikipedia+1

The Great Recycling and Northern Development Canal (GRAND Canal) proposed an alternative approach, involving damming James Bay to create an enormous freshwater lake and pumping water south into Georgian Bay to augment Great Lakes levels. This plan, promoted by Newfoundland engineer Thomas Kierans from 1959 until his death in 2013, aimed to address declining Great Lakes water levels while providing additional water supplies for both Canadian and American needs.wikipedia

Existing Water Transfer Infrastructure

North America already operates several major interbasin water transfer systems that demonstrate both the potential and limitations of such projects. California's State Water Project, featuring the 444-mile California Aqueduct, moves water from the Sierra Nevada and Northern California to Southern California, serving 35 million people and 5.7 million acres of farmland. The Los Angeles Aqueduct system stretches 200 miles from the Owens Valley, generating electricity rather than consuming it as water flows by gravity.wikipedia+1

These existing systems provide crucial lessons for larger proposals. The Los Angeles Aqueduct has endured earthquakes, flash floods, and sabotage attempts over its century-long operation, while experiencing periodic vulnerabilities to extreme weather events. In 2023, record storms breached a 120-foot section of the aqueduct for the first time in its history, threatening water deliveries to 4 million ratepayers.sierranevadaalliance

Contemporary Water Diversion Discussions

Recent political developments have renewed attention to continental water transfer schemes. President Trump's references to a "very large faucet" in Canada have revived discussions about Columbia River diversions. The Columbia River system, with headwaters in British Columbia, has been mentioned in proposals to address California's water shortages, though such diversions would violate existing interstate compacts and international treaties.nationalmagazine+2

Current infrastructure developments may inadvertently support future water transfer schemes. British Columbia's Site C dam project on the Peace River, completed in 2024, creates additional reservoir capacity that some analysts suggest could facilitate water diversions southward. The dam required diverting the Peace River through two 750-meter tunnels during construction, demonstrating the engineering capability for major water redirections.cbc+2

Economic Considerations and Alternative Solutions

The economics of long-distance water transport remain challenging when compared to alternative solutions. Desalination costs have declined significantly, with modern plants producing freshwater for approximately $0.40-1.00 per cubic meter. Transportation costs add roughly $0.05-0.06 per cubic meter for every 100 kilometers of horizontal distance or 100 meters of vertical lift.sussex.figshare+2

These economics favor desalination over long-distance transport for most coastal regions. Water transport becomes cost-prohibitive when distances exceed 1,600 kilometers or elevations exceed 2,000 meters above sea level. However, 94% of the world's population lives below 1,600 meters elevation, making desalination with modest transport economically viable for most communities.sustainabilitybynumbers

California's current water strategy reflects this economic reality, emphasizing water recycling, desalination, stormwater capture, and efficiency improvements rather than massive importation schemes. Governor Gavin Newsom's $8 billion strategy aims to offset an anticipated 10% water supply loss by 2040 through these conservation-focused approaches.columbiainsight

Environmental and Ecological Impacts

Large-scale water transfers carry profound environmental consequences that extend far beyond their immediate footprint. Donor basin impacts include reduced water levels limiting local access, potential community displacement, and fundamental alterations to aquatic ecosystems. The environmental review process for British Columbia's Site C project revealed concerns about fish populations, with 15,000 fish requiring relocation during river diversion.iisd+2

Inter-basin biological contamination represents a significant risk, as artificial waterways can facilitate the spread of invasive species between previously isolated ecosystems. Water transfers also alter river flow patterns, disrupting fish spawning and migration while potentially changing water chemistry and temperature regimes.sciencedirect+1

Climate implications add another layer of complexity. Large reservoir projects can release substantial greenhouse gases, particularly methane from flooded vegetation. Studies at Canada's Experimental Lakes Area demonstrated that flooding creates conditions favoring mercury methylation, potentially contaminating water supplies with toxic mercury compounds.iisd

Legal and Political Barriers

International water law creates substantial barriers to continental water transfer schemes. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact explicitly prohibits diversions outside the basin, with limited exceptions for communities partially within the watershed. Canada has implemented similar protections through the Transboundary Waters Protection Act of 2013, banning bulk water removals from shared waterways.cleanwater+2

Indigenous rights add another crucial dimension to water transfer discussions. Many proposed schemes would impact Indigenous territories and traditional water sources, requiring extensive consultation and consent processes that weren't considered in earlier proposals. The Fraser River system, for example, supports numerous First Nations communities whose rights and interests would be affected by any diversion schemes.encyclopedia

Trade agreements like CUSMA (formerly NAFTA) have explicitly excluded bulk water from commodity trading provisions, though concerns remain about potential future challenges to these protections. The agreement includes side letters stating that water isn't covered by trade provisions unless it becomes a commercialized good or product.thetyee+1

Regional Water Security Alternatives

Rather than pursuing continent-spanning diversions, regions are developing localized water security strategies that prove more economically and environmentally sustainable. Groundwater banking programs allow storing excess water during wet years for use during droughts. Water recycling and reuse can provide substantial new supplies, with California targeting 1.8 million acre-feet of recycled water annually by 2040.mwdh2o+1

Agricultural efficiency improvements offer enormous potential, as irrigation accounts for the majority of water consumption in many arid regions. Drought-resistant crop varieties and precision irrigation technologies can maintain agricultural productivity while reducing water demands.columbiainsight

Atmospheric water harvesting and other emerging technologies may provide additional alternatives to long-distance transport. These approaches offer the advantage of local control and reduced vulnerability to supply disruptions or political conflicts.

Looking Forward

The recurring interest in massive water transfer schemes reflects genuine water security concerns across North America's arid regions. However, the combination of enormous costs, environmental risks, legal barriers, and available alternatives makes these continental-scale projects unlikely to proceed in their originally envisioned form.

Instead, the future likely lies in integrated regional approaches combining multiple strategies: enhanced conservation, water recycling, selective desalination, improved agricultural efficiency, and strategic groundwater management. These approaches can provide water security while avoiding the massive infrastructure investments and environmental disruptions associated with continent-spanning diversions.

The engineering capability to move water across vast distances clearly exists, as demonstrated by existing aqueduct systems and major dam projects. However, the economic, environmental, and political costs of such schemes increasingly favor more distributed, sustainable approaches to water security that work with natural hydrological systems rather than attempting to fundamentally reshape them.

The dreams of continental water redistribution that emerged in the post-World War II era of massive public works projects may belong to a different time, when environmental costs were less understood and alternative technologies less developed. Today's water challenges require solutions that balance human needs with ecological sustainability and economic reality—a balance that favors innovation over infrastructure when it comes to addressing water scarcity in North America's arid interior.

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Thursday, October 30, 2025

Moving water from the west coast of Turtle Island to the arid interior