You dismiss the environmental concerns with little more than a handwave, but they were substantial.<p>The plan would have re-routed entire river systems, including economically important salmon runs, created a 500 mile long artificial lake in addition to other smaller reservoirs, would have required the relocation of &quot;hundreds of thousands&quot; of people, and would have required the creation of six nuclear power plants, just to power the pumps[1]. It was a grandiose, unworkable and IMO profoundly stupid idea. About at the same level as the plan to fill in the entire SF Bay south of Palo Alto that emerged around the same time.<p>1. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;North_American_Water_and_Power_Alliance" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;North_American_Water_and_Power...</a>