Editing James Bay (section)

==Human development==
[[File:Baie James1.jpg|thumb|200px|right|James Bay, near [[Chisasibi, Quebec|Chisasibi]], [[Quebec]]]]

===Coastal communities===
The shores of James Bay are sparsely populated. On the eastern shore in Quebec there are four coastal communities belonging to the [[Grand Council of the Crees|Cree]], the [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|indigenous people]] of the region (from south to north):
* [[Waskaganish, Quebec|Waskaganish]]
* [[Eastmain, Quebec|Eastmain]]
* [[Wemindji, Quebec|Wemindji]]
* [[Chisasibi, Quebec|Chisasibi]]

On the western shore in Ontario there are five coastal communities (from south to north):
* [[Moose Factory, Ontario|Moose Factory]]
* [[Moosonee, Ontario|Moosonee]]
* [[Fort Albany First Nation|Fort Albany]]
* [[Kashechewan First Nation|Kashechewan]]
* [[Attawapiskat First Nation|Attawapiskat]]

===Economic development===
[[File:GRAND Canal proposal (James Bay to Lake Huron).jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Possible scenario of the GRAND Canal scheme, showing the initial water capture and diversion into Lake Huron.]]

Since 1971, the [[Politics of Quebec#Government of Quebec|government of Quebec]] has built [[hydroelectric dams]] on rivers in the James Bay watershed, notably [[La Grande River|La Grande]] and [[Eastmain River|Eastmain]] rivers. Built between 1974 and 1996, the [[James Bay Project]] now has a combined generating capacity of 16,021 [[Watt|MW]] and produces about 83 billion [[Kilowatt hour|kWh]] of electricity each year, about half of Quebec's consumption. Power is also exported to the [[United States]] via a direct transmission high voltage line. The James Bay Project continues to expand, with work that began in 2010 on a new phase that involves the diversion of the [[Rupert River]].

A proposed development project, the [[Great Recycling and Northern Development Canal]] (GRAND Canal), centred on constructing a large [[Dike (construction)|dike]] to separate southern James Bay from Hudson Bay. This would turn the bay into a freshwater lake, due to the numerous rivers that empty into it. The main benefit expected from this would be to redirect this freshwater for human use. Water would be pumped south from the newly formed James Lake into the [[Harricana River]], crossing into the Great Lakes watershed near [[Amos, Quebec|Amos]], into [[Lake Timiskaming]] and the [[Ottawa River]], crossing near [[Mattawa, Ontario|Mattawa]] into [[Lake Nipissing]] and the [[French River (Ontario)|French River]] to [[Lake Huron]] (Georgian Bay).