Canada, U.S. Agree on Landmark Update to Columbia River Treaty

Canada and the United States have agreed to “modernize” their treaty governing the shared 2,000-kilometre Columbia River, with new terms related to flood control and hydropower generation.

The agreement-in-principle between the countries is a major milestone, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement last week. The Treaty can now be updated to ensure continued flood risk management and co-operation on hydropower, while incorporating “important provisions not considered in the original agreement, such as ecosystem health and Indigenous cultural values.”

“The modernized Treaty will reduce flood risk in communities, advance Indigenous priorities, and promote clean energy goals,” Trudeau added.

“After 60 years, the Treaty needs updating to reflect our changing climate and the changing needs of the communities that depend on this vital waterway,” President Joe Biden said in a separate statement.

The Columbia River Treaty was first signed in 1961 to enshrine cooperative management of the river, which forms in the Rocky Mountains and flows southward from British Columbia into Washington state. The river hosts dams that generate 40% of U.S. hydroelectricity and provides irrigation water for US$8 billion worth of agricultural products, reports The Associated Press. But those dams also caused devastating impacts on the river’s ecosystems, including salmon runs.

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc chief Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir said construction of the Columbia River Treaty dams represented the largest infringement of aboriginal title and rights in the territory.

“It’s really important to acknowledge some of the history,” Casimir said. “The conversion of the upper Columbia watershed into a massive reservoir system devastated innumerable plant and animal species, as well as our ancestral burial and cultural sites.”

New Agreement in Principle

In the new agreement, the U.S. will keep more of the power generated by its dams. The previous agreement included a provision known as the “Canadian Entitlement,” through which Canada received $250 to $350 million a year from the U.S. to store water to boost U.S. power generation. But that cost was higher than the U.S. had anticipated, and utilities complained the arrangement forced them toward higher electricity prices, AP writes.

The U.S. was previously obliged to pay B.C. $2.78 billion over the next 20 years for electricity, but under the new deal it will only pay $1.5 billion.

However, Canada will have more control over its reservoirs, a provision that was critical for B.C. residents concerned about low water levels. The U.S. will now also pay Canada $37.6 million per year, adjusted for inflation, for reservoir capacity to control flooding downstream, which will offset its losses from the reduced electricity payments.

“In total, B.C. expects the new agreement to be worth US$127 million less over 20 years,” the Globe and Mail writes.

“Yes, we did take less in funding, but we got more in actual benefits, which is critically important,” said B.C. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who is responsible for Columbia River matters. The new agreement also offers an opportunity to support ecosystem health throughout the basin by protecting areas like riparian zones or restoring salmon to the Upper Columbia River.

‘Controlling Our Destiny’

“We will be able to control our own destiny by reducing the treaty reservoir fluctuations, which have been a huge issue in this region, and so we will have that opportunity once the treaty is finally signed,” Conroy said.

But the lower revenue from the U.S. is also expected to reduce payments from B.C. to the Ktunaxa, Secwépemc, and Syilx Okanagan Nations, to whom the province agreed to allocate 15% of the hydroelectric income the treaty generates.

Conservationists and Indigenous communities have long been pushing for the treaty to include environmental measures and support for restoring salmon runs that were decimated by the dams installed along the river, writes CBC News. Conroy said the B.C. government focused on “ensuring that we take the ecosystem into consideration.”

First Nations along the river were “instrumental in shaping negotiations,” said Kathryn Teneese of the Ktunaxa Nation Council. She added that the council is committed to making sure that “the environment, Ktunaxa cultural values, stream flows, and salmon restoration are represented in the treaty negotiations” as a new deal is drafted.

“This milestone represents years of hard work and dedication by our nations,” Teneese said of the agreement, which has been six years in the making, according to AP.