Columbia River Treaty Agreement Reached in Principle

Columbia River Treaty Agreement Reached in Principle

The Administration announced a tentative deal (Agreement in Principle) with the Canadian Government on the Columbia River Treaty. This 60-year-old agreement between the United States and Canada has governed river flows, flood control, hydropower generation, and more on the shared Columbia River. The U.S. and Canadian negotiating entities have been meeting in earnest for over six years to modernize this important agreement. Key points of the agreement in principle include:

• Hydropower and transmission grid connectivity: The United States and Canada have a shared goal of transitioning to renewable energy sources to meet growing demand on both sides of the border, which includes maintaining and enhancing our abundant existing clean energy sources like hydropower. Power grid connectivity across the western United States and Canada is essential to avoid blackouts and mitigate extreme weather impacts to our energy systems. Modernization provides the opportunity to enhance cooperation between the States’ Bonneville Power Administration and Canadian utilities and will set the stage for potential additional grid connectivity to facilitate transfers of renewable energy between the countries. It also will continue power coordination for better optimization of the river system, helping keep the lights on.

In addition, modernization will result in an immediate 37 percent reduction in hydropower that the United States delivers to Canada under the current agreement, and a reduction of 50 percent by 2033. This will retain more clean energy in the United States to support a thriving modern economy without a diminishment of Canada’s current clean energy mix. Power transfers to Canada will reduce further if Canada decides to use more water storage at Canadian Treaty dams in British Columbia to meet domestic needs. As Canada exercises more reservoir flexibility, the size of the Canadian Entitlement will drop in proportion.

• Flood risk management to protect the United States downstream: The United States will have access to pre-planned storage space behind Canadian Treaty dams for flood risk management. This means that in most years, U.S. reservoirs in the Columbia Basin will operate similar to today. Pre-planned flood risk management in Canada protects the United States by helping to manage high flows originating in Canada, thus maintaining predictable flows in the Columbia Basin, which enables stable shipping operations, supports irrigation and agriculture, supports recreation, and protects ongoing efforts to support regional salmon populations. Recognizing this, the United States will compensate Canada for helping enable these additional benefits.

• Indigenous inclusion and ecosystem health: To further cement and expand Tribal and Indigenous inclusion in a modernized Treaty regime, the United States and Canada will establish a Tribal and Indigenous-led body that will provide recommendations on how Treaty operations can better support ecosystem needs and tribal and indigenous cultural values. This body will provide an essential voice for U.S. Tribes and Canadian Indigenous Nations concerning possible adaptations of future operations to support a healthy ecosystem, improve salmon survival, and address cultural values of those who have been stewards of this resource since time immemorial.

• Supporting a healthy salmon population: A modernized Treaty regime will include a long-term agreement to continue water flows (flow augmentation) from Canadian reservoirs to support salmon migration throughout the basin, including a strategy to bolster flows during dry years. Furthermore, both countries are committing to coordinate on studies on salmon reintroduction, which are led by U.S. Tribes and Canadian Indigenous Nations.