Columbia River Water Treaty
- The Columbia River Treaty is a transboundary water management agreement between Canada and the US, ratified in 1964 (but established in 1961) to organize the development and operation of dams in the Columbia River basin to produce power and control water flow for both countries.
- The catalyst for this Treaty was a devastating flood in 1948 in Vanport, Oregon, and a growing demand for power in the Pacific Northwest.
- Under this treaty, four dams were built: three in British Columbia and one in Montana.
- The agreement ensured that Canada and the US had an equal share of the power benefits coming from the dams and adequate flood control.
- This Treaty has been very successful to both countries and while it has no end date, the two countries began discussing the possibility to modernize the Treaty in 2018 and have since engaged in negotiations, most recently in May, 2022.
Citation
Canada. British Columbia. Columbia River Water Treaty: Treaty between Canda and the United States of America relating to Cooperative Development of the Water Resources of The Columbia River Basin.[Ottawa, Ontario], 1964. https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/6/2012/04/Columbia-River-Treaty-Protocol-and-Documents.pdf
Further Readings
For some more background and information regarding the Treaty: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty/the-treaty/ & https://www.state.gov/columbia-river-treaty/#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20and%20Canada,%2C%20Wyoming%2C%20and%20British%20Columbia.
For more modern updates of the Columbia River Treaty: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty/
Overlapping Topics
Environment
Policy Sub-Topic
Policy Type
Treaty