Canada, U.S. governments reach in-principle agreement to update Columbia River Treaty

President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the NATO Summit, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Washington. The Canadian and U.S. governments say they have reached an agreement-in-principle in the process to modernize the Columbia River Treaty, which regulates the waterway that flows from southeastern British Columbia into Washington state. (Evan Vucci / AP / The Canadian Press)

The Canadian and U.S. governments have reached a deal on how to modernize the Columbia River Treaty, the decades-old agreement that regulates the waterway that flows from southeastern British Columbia into Washington state.

In a statement issued from Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the in-principle agreement will enable officials to update the treaty to ensure continued flood-risk management and co-operation on hydro power on the river.

He said the updated treaty will also incorporate provisions not considered in the original agreement, including ecosystem health and Indigenous cultural values.

"This agreement-in-principle is the result of extensive engagement, notably with Indigenous and local communities, to ensure that all interests are heard, represented, and addressed," he said.

A key component of the original treaty inked in 1961 is set to expire in September, adding urgency to the negotiations.

The treaty is important because actions on one side of the border can have an impact on the other, such as how Canadian dams manage water flow, affecting flood mitigation and power generation further downstream.

B.C. issued a separate statement on the agreement, saying the provincial and federal government will share "more detailed information" about the deal in the coming weeks.

It said it has been working with the federal government and the Ktunaxa, Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations over the past six years to come up with the country's "priorities, objectives and negotiating positions."

Katrine Conroy, the B.C. minister responsible for the Columbia River Treaty, said in an interview Thursday that the deal is a "generational opportunity" to build on the 1960s treaty, which was "all about power generation and flood control."

"Now we'll have an opportunity to support ecosystem health throughout the basin, which is critically important, things like riparian zones, or restoring salmon to the Upper Colombia — that were some things that were not considered in the 60s," she said.

"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."

During negotiations, she said the province focused on "ensuring that we take the ecosystem into consideration, climate change, having the flexibility and ability to determine … what we're doing with the water on our side of the border is so important, because with the treaty, we haven't had that opportunity."

First Nations along the Columbia River Basin in B.C. have long been calling for changes to the treaty to support the restoration of salmon runs that have been blocked by dams in the U.S.

In a statement Thursday, Kathryn Teneese of the Ktunaxa Nation Council said the nation had been instrumental in shaping negotiation priorities and the move ensures it will have "a voice at the table."

“We have worked hard to see concerns over the environment, Ktunaxa cultural values, stream flows and salmon restoration represented in the treaty negotiations, and we are committed to continuing that work as a new treaty is drafted," Teneese said in the release.

She said they are working with British Columbia and Canada to ensure the concerns they have about dams are addressed.

U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement saying he was pleased the two sides had agreed on "the key elements of a modernized treaty," and in the coming weeks, negotiators would continue work on drafting an amendment for the treaty.

Biden said the deal would "rebalance energy co-ordination" between the two countries, allowing the United States to keep more hydro while giving Canada opportunities to both import power and export it to the U.S. market. He said it elevates Indigenous voices on both sides of the border, and the United States would benefit from storage at Canadian dams to help control flooding.

John Hairston, administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, told a Washington state news briefing on Thursday that the "historic agreement" will provide operational predictability. He said a "major objective" of the treaty was to "rebalance power benefits."

"It's worth noting that this relief on the Canadian entitlement begins immediately, even as the countries continue to complete the necessary steps to enter into the modernized treaty," Hairston said. "Beginning in August, the Canadian entitlement will be about 60 per cent of what it is today, and by 2033 will decrease to less than 50 per cent of today's entitlement."

Michael Connor, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, told the same conference that the governments had reached an agreement "on a quantity of preplanned" flood-risk management space in Canada.

"It is important to note, however, that without modernization, the treaty requires no preplanned space in Canada and U.S. reservoirs would have experienced much greater impacts in many more years than what is expected under the new agreement," he said.

Connor said the United States will compensate Canada in U.S. dollars for the space it provides.

Conroy, who is also B.C.'s finance minister, confirmed those aspects of the agreement in an interview.

"Flood risk management payments are going to come to us because they're getting that flood risk control, so it's anticipated to be about $37.6 million (annually) and that'll be indexed to inflation," she said.

"Then we'll also get an annual additional benefit from the operation of the Canadian reservoirs, and that'll provide an additional $16.6 million to Canada annually once the treaty comes into force, and again, that'll be indexed to inflation through to 2044."

But Conroy said she believes the trade-off is worth it.

"I think from the basin residents' perspective, getting the benefits that we have desperately been wanting for so many years is worth the fact that the actual financial entitlement will go down a bit," she said. "We knew it was going to go down anyway. That was part of the (original) treaty."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2024.