Possibly of pumping water from the BC mountains to the prairies

The idea of pumping water from the mountains of British Columbia to the Canadian prairies has surfaced periodically, especially during periods of drought, but no large-scale mountain-to-prairie water transfer pipeline or canal has ever been built. Multiple government reports, proposals, and feasibility studies have explored its possibility, but implementation faces major technical, environmental, and jurisdictional hurdles.digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku+2​

Key Historical Proposals

• Fraser-Columbia Water Transfer: Discussions in the 1960s and 1970s considered diverting Fraser or Columbia River water eastward to serve prairie irrigation and municipal supply. These concepts paralleled broader North American water redistribution ideas but did not progress past the study stage.environment.probeinternational+1​

• Saskatchewan-Nelson Basin Projects: The Prairie Provinces Water Board in 1972 documented dozens of diversion and dam projects, some contemplating BC-to-prairie connections by linking lakes and rivers (e.g., via the Churchill and Saskatchewan river systems) but most focused on interprovincial transfers within the prairie provinces.environment.probeinternational​

• North Thompson Reservoir Scheme: A major export concept involved building a reservoir on the North Thompson River in BC and transferring up to one million acre-feet annually out-of-basin, primarily to the US but with the technical potential to reach prairie Canada. Again, this was studied but never built due to concerns about cost, environment, and political feasibility.environment.probeinternational​

Recent Policy and Feasibility

• Alberta's government is currently revisiting interbasin transfer rules, including the possibility of more flexible transfers between provincial river basins—but these do not (yet) involve cross-provincial schemes from BC. Past legislative restrictions limited such transfers, but drought pressures have led to new discussions about future pipeline-style projects.cbc​

• Major engineering obstacles include the height and breadth of the Rocky Mountains, massive system costs, energy requirements for pumping uphill, risks to aquatic ecosystems, and legal complexities of multi-province water governance.cbc+1​

• Indigenous and environmental concerns are significant, with stakeholders warning about potential habitat impacts, water quality changes, and threats to ecological integrity up and downstream.ctvnews+1​

Feasibility

• While technically possible, the sheer scale and cost of such a mountain-to-prairie water pipeline make it unlikely in the near future. Benefits would include drought protection and agricultural support, but the social, political, and environmental costs remain prohibitive.ctvnews+2​

Pumping water from the BC mountains to the prairies remains an idea more often discussed in response to crisis than as a practical engineering reality, with multiple barriers preventing its realization to date.cbc+2​

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17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjiODFjieeA
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19. https://www.facebook.com/groups/albertansagainstcoal/posts/1177402987374681/
20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_River_Block