By: Hans Poschman, CSG-WEST 

 The Legislative Council on River Governance (LCRG) comprised of legislators from the Columbia River Basin states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington will be meeting October 3-4 to discuss the Columbia River Treaty. Basin legislators are very familiar with the Treaty that has governed the operations of the river system for nearly 50 years. The Treaty has no official end date, but 2014 is the first year that either side can unilaterally choose to give the 10-year notice required to change or end the Treaty.

 

In 1944, the Canadian and U.S. governments agreed to begin studying the potential for joint development of dams in the Columbia River basin. Massive flooding in 1948 that killed more than 30 people and destroyed the community of Vanport, Oregon (the second largest city in Oregon at the time) led to increased interest in a coordinated approach to river management. The original Treaty was finalized in 1964 and has been responsible for governing hydroelectric power generation and flood control since then.

 

The Treaty required the creation of a number of dams along the Columbia River with the largest of those in Canada. Under the agreement, the dams are operated with two main objectives: prevent flooding and maximize energy production. The U.S. in return provides Canada with half of the estimated increase in downstream power; this is known as the Canadian Entitlement.  As the cost of energy has increased over the years the value of the Canadian Entitlement has grown. The Canadian Entitlement varies from year to year, but is generally in the range of 4,400 GWh per year and about 1,250 MW of capacity.

 

During the treaty review process, review teams from both countries are looking at the operational structure of the Treaty and possibly recommending changes to the Canadian Entitlement, how flood control is handled, and adding a third component to the Treaty related to the environment. Last week the U.S. Entity released its final Draft Regional Recommendation regarding the Treaty.  When the LCRG meets in Boardman, OR next week the members will get to hear from both the U.S. Entity and British Columbia on how each side sees the Treaty. For more information about the LCRG, please contact Hans Poschman at hposchman@csg.org.

 

 

More Information:

 

U.S. Entity's Website

 

British Columbia's Treaty Review Website

The Toll Fellowship Program, named for CSG founder Henry Wolcott Toll, is one of the nation's premier leadership development programs for state government officials. Each year, the program brings 48 of the nation's top officials from all three branches of state government to Lexington, Ky., for an intensive six-day, five-night "intellectual boot camp."  

Kathleen Short

Ph.D.Senior Research Economist, Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, U.S. Census Bureau