1. Introduction

1.1 Columbia River Treaty Background

In 1964, Canada and the United States (U.S.) ratified the Columbia River Treaty (Treaty), a transboundary water management agreement.

The impetus for the Treaty was the disastrous flood of 1948 which devastated the City of Vanport in Oregon and cost many lives, along with growing power demand in the Pacific Northwest. In exchange for providing flood control and for an equal share of the incremental U.S. downstream power benefits, Canada agreed to build three dams – Duncan, Hugh L. Keenleyside and Mica – in British Columbia and allowed the U.S. to build a fourth dam, the Libby Dam, that flooded into Canada.

The Canadian facilities vastly reduced flood risk in B.C. and the U.S The Treaty also enabled the construction of hydroelectric projects in B.C. that provide approximately half of the potential generation in the province, as well as providing for the production of significantly more electricity at U.S. hydropower facilities.

The Canada-British Columbia Agreement (1963) allocated most Treaty rights, benefits and obligations to the Province. Although this agreement retains Canada’s constitutional jurisdiction for international treaties, it requires Canada to obtain the concurrence of the Province before terminating or amending the Treaty

The U.S. prepaid Canada $64 million for 60 years to provide assured flood control operations which resulted in reduced flood damage and increased safety for U.S. citizens. The U.S. also committed in the Treaty to paying Canada half of the incremental power potential that could be produced because of the new flow regimes made possible by the Treaty coordination.

The Treaty dams and reservoirs inundated 110,000 hectares (270,000 acres) of Canadian ecosystems, displaced more than two thousand residents as well as First Nations, communities and infrastructure, and impacted farms, tourism and forestry activities. First Nations and public consultation and mitigation at the time could be considered inadequate to non-existent by today’s standards, and feelings of hurt remain to this day.

The Treaty has no end date but either country can unilaterally terminate the Treaty from September 2024 onwards provided that at least 10 years notice is given.

This ability to terminate the Treaty, and the changing flood control provisions that will occur post-2024 whether the Treaty is terminated or not, have prompted both countries to undertake a review of the Treaty to determine its future.

1.2 Overview of the Columbia River Treaty Review

The Province has initiated a Treaty review process to evaluate future decision options, including possible continuation, amendment or termination of the Treaty.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines is the coordinating agency for the review and established a Columbia River Treaty Review Team (Treaty Review Team) in fall 2011 to undertake analysis and provide recommendations to Cabinet in 2013.

Canada has supported British Columbia’s lead role in the Treaty review, and is collaborating with the Province throughout the process.

The purpose of the Province’s review is to determine whether British Columbia should recommend that Canada exercise its right to terminate the Treaty, or alternatively what the Province’s position should be in discussions with the United States on any new arrangements within the Treaty or amendments to the Treaty.
The Treaty review includes a number of initiatives in order to support future decisions including:

1. Economic, environmental, social, legal and hydrological analyses;
2. Meeting the Province’s constitutional obligations to consult, and if necessary accommodate, First Nations potentially impacted by any decision on the Treaty;
3. Consulting Columbia Basin residents on decision options and identifying regional concerns, interests, and expectations; and
4. Analyzing U.S. economic, environmental, social and legal interests in order to understand U.S. positions on termination or revision of the Treaty post-2024.

The Treaty review public consultation is guided by four engagement principles: Be Inclusive, Transparent and Honest; Create Capacity to Participate; Facilitate Constructive Engagement; and Close the Loop.

1.3 First Nations

The provincial Crown has a legal duty to consult potentially affected First Nations when decisions by the Crown may impact aboriginal rights and title. First Nations were not consulted when the Columbia River Treaty was established and aboriginal rights and title in the Basin remain unresolved. In light of this, the Province has been consulting separately with the relevant First Nations in order to meet constitutional obligations and to understand and address First Nations interests. This process is conducted on a government-to-government basis and is not public.

1.4 Columbia River Basin

1.4.1 Map

Please see Appendix 1 for a map of the Columbia River Basin showing Treaty dams, major non-Treaty dams, Treaty reservoirs and communities.

1.4.2 Community Profiles

There are approximately 160,000 residents in the Canadian Columbia River Basin (Basin) area identified for public consultations. Please see Appendix 2 for information on Basin communities, including community population, economic drivers and attendance at Treaty review community consultation events. The communities are arranged by proximity to reservoirs and river systems.

1.4.3 Stakeholder Groups

In addition to Basin residents and local environmental and community organizations, the Treaty Review Team interacted with the following stakeholders:

Columbia Basin Trust (CBT)

• The CBT provided general education and awareness to Columbia Basin residents on the Treaty and held a number of community based information sessions prior to the Province’s public consultation. The Treaty Review Team attended CBT-hosted Columbia River Treaty education sessions in fall 2011.
• CBT co-developed an MOU with the Province’s Treaty Review Team which lays out each agency’s roles and responsibilities regarding Columbia Basin residents and the Columbia River Treaty review (see Appendix 3 for the MOU between the Treaty Review team and CBT)
• CBT provided advice and input on the Province’s public consultation process and provided feedback on key Treaty review documents.

Columbia River Treaty Local Governments’ Committee (Local Governments’ Committee)

• The Local Governments’ Committee is a sub-committee of the Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments (see Appendix 4 for Local Governments’ Committee Terms of Reference).
• The Local Governments’ Committee provided feedback and advice to the Treaty Review Team on the public consultation process. Early advice included not overly narrowing the scope of Treaty review and to provide residents with an opportunity to talk about historical grievances. The Local Governments’ Committee also suggested asking Basin residents how they wished to be consulted.
• The Treaty Review Team continues to provide regular updates and engage in dialogue with the Local Governments’ Committee.
• Based on the summary reports from Treaty review public consultation events and CBT public education events on the Treaty, the Local Governments’ Committee developed a list of Basin residents’ issues which was submitted to the Treaty Review Team. The Treaty Review Team shared the list with the other government ministries and agencies that form the Columbia River Treaty Cross-ministry Committee asking them to respond to the concerns raised by Basin residents and stakeholders. A compilation of the responses can be found in Appendix 5.

BC Hydro

• The Treaty Review Team met with BC Hydro regional community relations staff in the Kootenay region and provides Treaty review material for distribution at BC Hydro community events in the Basin. The Treaty Review Team regularly communicates with BC Hydro community liaison staff to seek input/feedback and to ensure there was no overlap of community events.
• The Treaty Review Team works with BC Hydro Treaty review technical team on the modelling and analysis of future Treaty options and to develop and deliver material for community consultation events.

Columbia Power Corporation (CPC) and FortisBC (Fortis)

• The Treaty Review Team met with CPC and Fortis staff to provide updates and to seek their respective views and interests regarding the future of the Treaty.

Columbia River Treaty MLA Committee

• The Treaty Review team meets with the chair of the Committee, the Honourable Bill Bennett, and provided briefings to Columbia Basin MLAs.

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