The premise of the GCNA is that fresh water run-off from natural participation would be collected in James Bay by means of a series of outflow-only, sea level dikes - constructed across the northern end of James Bay. This would capture the fresh water before it mixed with the salty water of Hudson Bay. In the second phase of the Grand Canal proposal a percentage of the captured fresh water run-off would be transferred by a series of canals and pumping stations south to the Great Lakes where it would be available to be transferred to water deficit areas of Canada and the United States.