The Columbia River Treaty is a treaty that was signed in January 1961 between the U.S. and Canada over the damming the Columbia River for flood control and power generation. The treaty included a clause to review the treaty after 60 years, which means it would be renegotiated in 2024.
Recommendations for modernizing the treaty began as early as 2011 and listed a number of considerations from river ecosystem health, climate change, application of the best available science and official renegotiations were underway in 2018. An additional recommendation was added to expand the role of Tribes, Nations and First Nations in the process.
In March of 2023, the board of JUUstice Washington signed onto an NGO letter to President Biden calling on him to expand the U.S. representative body into include a representative for the “health of the river’s ecosystem.” It was felt that the Bonneville Power Administration and the Army Corp of Engineers failed to meet the needs of salmon and the health of the Columbia River while supporting hydroelectric production and flood risk management.
In May 2023, Deb Cruz (JUUstWA President), representing JUUstice Washington, publicly spoke at a listening session held by the Department of State, joined by the Bonneville Power Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration advocating modernizing the treaty to include the rights of the river’s ecosystem and the expanded engagement of the Tribes/First Nations.
In July 2024, the U.S. and Canada reached an “Agreement In Principle (AIP).” Unfortunately, the AIP has flood control and power generation as its priorities. While the AIP did incorporate some of the language concerning the river’s ecosystems and Tribal/First Nation participation, both came up significantly short of what’s needed and what was asked for.
The board of JUUstice Washington will now be signing onto another NGO letter to the U.S. State Department and NW Senators responding to the AIP and, once again, reiterating the need to prioritize the health of the Columbia River ecosystem as a primary function of the treaty and to strengthening the voice of the Tribes and First Nations to be implemented and enforced, not just relegated to being advisory.