More than 20 people attended an open house in Kalispell last week to hear updates on the Columbia River Treaty review process. It was the fifteenth and final public meeting hosted this spring by the Bonneville Power Administration and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the United States-Canada water treaty, parts of which will expire or change in 2024.
The Columbia River Treaty was signed in 1961 and implemented in 1964. Its creation led to the construction of four dams in the United States and Canada, including the Libby Dam, and was meant to harness the power of water for hydroelectricity and provide better flood control across the region. The U.S. and Canada are reviewing the treaty this year because 2014 is the first year either side could ask that it be terminated or changed. If either side wants to change the treaty, it must give at least 10 years notice. Army Corps spokesperson Amy Echols said meetings like the one held in Kalispell are important to gather input from the public.
“What we want to know is what we may have missed in the (treaty review process) and how it impacts local residents,” Echols said. “We have to provide a regional recommendation to the state department and so at this stage, public input is important.”
The U.S. entity is made up of the Army Corps, BPA and a sovereign review team that includes representatives of the four states in the Columbia River Basin, 15 federally recognized tribes and 11 federal agencies.
Jim Barton of the Army Corps started the May 16 presentation with a review of the original treaty. Treaty discussions were initially prompted by floods that devastated the region before the 1960s, specifically a 1948 flood that destroyed the town of Vanport, Ore., and killed 50 people. Floods caused more than $522 million in damage in the Columbia River Basin, both in the U.S. and Canada, between 1948 and 1961.
After 15 years of negotiations, the Columbia River Treaty was signed in the early 1960s. With four new dams, the Canadian and American governments could control rivers across the basin, including the Kootenai River. Since most of the water is stored in Canada, the United States paid $64.4 million to its northern neighbor for 60 years of flood control. The original agreement also included a one-time payment equal to half the downstream power generated in the United States for 30 years. The payment of $254 million worth of electricity helped Canada build three dams in its country. That part of the agreement expired in 2003 and since then the United States has delivered a daily allotment of power to Canada, worth $222 million to $359 million annually.
Barton and Matt Rabe, a project manager with the Army Corps, discussed the various options the U.S. entity could recommend to the State Department, which include extending, modifying or terminating the treaty. The State Department will make the final decision for the U.S. and negotiate with Canada. Barton hopes to have a draft recommendation by the fall and a final one by December. A Canadian delegation is doing the same north of the border.
“Let’s be clear – nothing will change before 2024, but there could be changes after that date,” Rabe said.
Echols said meetings were held across the Pacific Northwest in April and May and in the next few weeks the U.S. entity will begin the next phase of the review. People who wish to comment on the project are encouraged to visit www.crt2014-2024review.gov, email [email protected], call BPA at (800) 622-4519 or the Corps at (503) 808-4510 or mail comments to BPA, PO Box 3621, Portland, Ore. 97208-3621.