The updated Columbia River Treaty will provide “certainty and stability” to both the U.S. and Canada in a variety of functions, representatives of several U.S. agencies said during an Aug. 5 media call.

“It’s been challenging at times to find common ground in all of the aspects we’re addressing here, but we’ve done it,” said Hub Adams, lead negotiator for the Bonneville Power Administration, calling the new treaty a “win-win” for both countries on energy.

“This collaboration allows for the proverbial whole being greater than the sum of its parts when it comes to serving our respective customers, so we can all share in the benefits on both sides of the border,” he said.

Details of the agreement-in-principle still need to be developed into treaty amendments between the two nations, which will then go through the “necessary process” to bring the modernized agreement “into force.”

They also must arrange for treaty coordination, power transmission and pre-planned flood risk management between Sept. 16, when the current treaty expires, and when the new treaty takes effect.

“When this agreement enters into force, the U.S. will have more predictable operations for power generation, flood risk management operations, direct Tribal input into river operations, water for agriculture, flows for ecosystems, flows for navigation in the lower river and for recreation,” said Jennifer Savage, director of the Office of Canadian Affairs at the U.S. State Department.

A timeline for approving the new treaty was not mentioned during the media call.

Flood-risk management

Flood-risk management takes priority when operating the system, said Pete Dickerson, Columbia River Treaty program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Without modernization, with some pre-planned flood control provisions sunsetting this year, U.S. reservoirs might need to be offered more conservatively, at lower levels for longer periods of time, Savage said.

Fish migration

Canada will provide 1 million acre-feet of water for spring and salmon migration each year, said Michael Tehan, assistant regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, or NOAA Fisheries. An additional 500,000 acre-feet will be provided in drier years.

The U.S. fought unsuccessfully for additional flows for salmon, Tehan said.

“The shift to long-term agreements and including anadromous fish flow augmentation commitments in the text of the modernized treaty would increase the certainty of obtaining salmon flows each year,” Tehan said. “It would also elevate both countries’ recognition of their importance for salmon and steelhead recovery, and reintroduction efforts on both sides of the border.”

Tribal inclusion

The U.S. and Canada will establish a Tribal and Indigenous-led body, the Joint Ecosystem and Indigenous and Tribal Cultural Values Body, or JEB, to provide recommendations on how treaty operations can better support ecosystem needs, and Tribal and Indigenous cultural values, Tehan said.

JEB will develop an adapted management plan, review fish flow augmentation operations and make recommendations to maximize benefits to fish in both nations. JEB will also coordinate the countries’ efforts to study salmon reintroduction in the Upper Columbia River Basin areas.

Power operations

Power planning and operations will continue largely as they have, said Adams, with BPA.

By 2033, the Pacific Northwest will retain about 600 more megawatts of capacity and 230 more megawatts of energy than recent years, he said.

“This will go a long way toward helping the regional power demand growth and avoiding unnecessary fossil fuel-based generation,” Adams said.

Modernization includes a “firm foundation” for potential expansion of Bonneville’s transmission system to allow non-carbon emitting electric power transactions between the western U.S. and Canada under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021.

“Appropriated funds, rather than Pacific Northwest ratepayer funds, can be made available for any such transmission expansion,” Adams said.

Summary of the agreement

https://www.state.gov/summary-of-the-agreement-in-principle-to-modernize-the-columbia-river-treaty-regime/