Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Residents of the Columbia Basin and beyond gathered online Oct.18, hoping their concerns about the low water levels of the Arrow Lakes reservoir would be addressed. The 90-minute presentation focused on the situation through the lens of the Columbia River Treaty, and the current negotiations happening to modernize it.
Drought is part of the reason. But so too is the Columbia River Treaty with the United States that obligates B.C. to direct water from the reservoir across the border at American behest. The grim scenes described by Youmans illustrate the stakes in ongoing talks between Canadian and U.S. negotiators to modernize the 62-year-old treaty, as the increased risk of extreme weather weighs on both sides. Part of the treaty that gives the United States direct control over a portion of the water in Arrow Lakes Reservoir and two other B.C. dams is set to expire in September 2024.
Some residents of B.C.'s West Kootenay region say they're worried about water levels in the Arrow Lakes amid a historic drought and high temperatures that triggered an early snowpack melt. They're calling on B.C. Hydro, which uses the Arrow Lakes as a reservoir to generate power, to do more to preserve valuable salmon habitats and recreation spots.
The Ktunaxa, Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations and their members will benefit from new interim agreements that share revenue generated from the Columbia River Treaty. Through the three separate interim agreements, the Ktunaxa Nation, Secwépemc Nation and Syilx Okanagan Nation will each receive 5% of the revenue generated through the sale of Canada's share of downstream power benefits under the treaty, otherwise known as the Canadian Entitlement. The proposed interim agreements will share this revenue over four years.
Another round of negotiations over the Columbia River Treaty have wrapped up in Washington, D.C., as delegations with Canada and the U.S. met for the 16th time to discuss modernizing the water sharing agreement. The latest talks focused on strengthening co-operation to support aquatic life and biodiversity in the Columbia River Basin, ongoing studies regarding salmon reintroduction, flood-risk management and greater flexibility for how treaty dams are operated, according to an update from the province.
The 15th round of negotiations to modernize the Columbia River Treaty was held in Vancouver on January 25 and 26. The Columbia River Treaty is a water management agreement that was implemented in 1964 between the United States and Canada. The U.S. prepaid Canada $64 million for a 60-year agreement to ensure flood control operations would be provided. The Columbia Treaty doesn’t have an end date but can be terminated by either country as of September 2024 or onward, if 10 years' notice is given.
A myriad of First Nations on either side of the border like the Secwépemc (Shuswap) and Ktunaxa (Akisqnuk) have had deep seeded roots to the Columbia River for thousands of years, long before the Treaty attached to it ever became a notion. What is the Columbia River Treaty? The Columbia River Treaty is a water management agreement that was implemented in 1964 between the United States and Canada and is well-respected internationally.
Time may be expiring on the Columbia River Treaty but a stream of issues to continue workability between Canada and the U.S. won’t be water under the bridge just yet. Sixty years of Assured Flood Control is set to expire in 2024 but the two countries have been in talks to modernize the historical transboundary agreement since May 2018, covering a range of topics over the course of 10 rounds of meetings.
While Canada and the United States continue to renegotiate an international water sharing agreement, the Regional District of East Kootenay is advocating for consistent water levels on Lake Koocanusa during the summer months. The Columbia River Treaty, a decades-old water sharing and flood management agreement, is currently in the process of being modernized between the two countries, and one of the local sticking points is inconsistent water levels at the Koocanusa reservoir.
Signed in 1961 and ratified in 1964, the Columbia River Treaty is a transboundary water management agreement between Canada and the United States. The treaty optimizes both flood management and power generation through co-ordinated operations of dams, rivers, and reservoirs on both sides of the border. What led to the treaty? In 1948, before there were any dams along the Columbia River, there was a disastrous flood that devastated the former city of Vanport, Oregon. The floodwaters completely destroyed the infrastructure and killed 15 people, when the 200-foot-long railroad berm holding back the river collapsed. As well as the growing demand for power in the Pacific Northwest on both sides of the border, the impetus for the Columbia River Treaty was the flood and the growing need for electricity.
Eileen Delehanty Pearkes has been researching and writing about the history and politics of water in the upper Columbia Basin since 2005. Her book on the Columbia River Treaty, A River Captured, was released in 2016. Pearkes has agreed to help readers of The Nelson Daily understand the importance of the Columbia River Treaty to the region in her column River Talk. Today, Pearkes writes about the push from 21 members of the United States Congress for President Joe Biden to get his administration involved in Treaty negotiations.
Completed in 1973, the Army Corps of Engineers dam was designed to regulate how spring snow melt in the Kootenay River watershed (87% of which originates in Canada) enters the downstream watershed. It has done so effectively, but at a considerable price to local residents. The upper end of the reservoir in Canada bears the brunt of the storage draw down each spring, and in dry years, the reservoir’s moonscape does not always refill to a level that allows for much recreation. The control over these water levels is 100% vested in American operation of Libby dam.
The Columbia River Treaty, an international agreement governing the flow of water between British Columbia and six U.S. states, will be 55 years old this year. It has not aged well. The river springs from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains of B.C. and winds 1,930 kilometres through the Northwestern United States – Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. No other river in North America spills more water into the Pacific Ocean.
