WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the 10-year anniversary of a key milestone in the Columbia River Treaty negotiation process — Dec. 13 — U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging them to finalize an agreement between the U.S. and Canada to modernize and strengthen the treaty.
“A modernized treaty regime will benefit both of our countries by strengthening flood response and creating opportunities for better management of our shared water resources to overcome new challenges,” the members wrote to President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau. “Our shared energy relationship can include cooperation on grid modernization, joint work on an upgraded inter-tie to enable more Canadian electricity to be exported to U.S. markets such the American Southwest, and collaboration on technology solutions like artificial intelligence to improve systems’ efficiency and efficacy.”
The letter’s release comes a decade to the day after publication of the “regional recommendation,” an extensive, multi-year Columbia River Treaty Review conducted in consultation with the region’s states, federally recognized Tribes, and hundreds of stakeholders.
For more than 60 years, the Columbia River Treaty has been used to manage stewardship of the Columbia River Basin across the United States and Canada, guiding hydropower operations and flood risk management to benefit people on both sides of the border. Most provisions of the Treaty can continue indefinitely without actions from the U.S. or Canada, except the flood control provisions.
If the Treaty is not modernized, the flood control provisions of the Columbia River Treaty will expire in September 2024 and the U.S. will enter into “called-upon” flood control operations, which will require the U.S. to request Canada’s assistance for flood control on the U.S. side of the Columbia River Basin.
Cantwell and Risch have consistently met with U.S. negotiators, the Biden Administration, and Canadian leaders, including Prime Minister Trudeau, to urge them to prioritize Treaty negotiations and work towards an agreement that benefits U.S. and Canadian interests. Last March, Cantwell and Risch led a letter, signed by the entire Pacific Northwest Congressional delegation, to President Joe Biden asking him to help expedite a final agreement between the U.S. and Canada to modernize and strengthen the Columbia River Treaty.
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