User:Random89/NAWAPA

The North American Water and Power Alliance (NAWAPA) was a proposed plan to dam a number of rivers in Western Canada, providing water for irrigation and human consumption, and generating hydroelectric power. The centrepiece of the plan was to turn the Rocky Mountain Trench into a large reservoir by constructing dams on the Fraser, Yukon, Columbia, Liard, and Peace Rivers where they leave the Trench. The resulting reservoir, shaped mainly by geographic features, would be over 800 kilometres long and an average of more than 15 kilometres wide. It was estimated that if built, the project would produce 55, 000 megawatts of electricity per year and provide 150 million acre-feet of water for irrigation and other uses.

Historical Background
Over the course of the late 19th and the 20th century, the population of western North America grew exponentially. Southern California in particular, with cities such as Los Angeles, experienced a population boom. California also saws the development of a large agricultural industry. Most of the newly developed crop lands were reliant on irrigation to support plant growth, as the region is semi-arid and receives little reliable rainfall