The Columbia River Treaty is an important international treaty that is rarely discussed outside of a select circle with interests in power generation, flood control, fish habitat, and agricultural irrigation. Yet, it has emerged as an important topic in recent weeks because an agreement in principle has been reached by its two signatories: Canada and the United States.

Formal review of the Columbia River Treaty (CRT) began in 2014, with negotiations ramping up significantly in 2018. Certain aspects of the treaty, specifically the clause regarding on-call flood control, is set to expire in mid-September of this year. While the treaty in its entirety has no set expiration date, either country can indicate a desire to end the treaty with a decade of notice.

The renegotiation of the CRT marks the first update of the treaty since it was signed in the 1960s. The most notable change in the arrangement between the United States and Canada is in how the U.S. pays for use of river water to generate power. The payment scheme, called the Canadian Entitlement, currently sends an estimated $229-$335 million worth of energy to Canada annually.

Under the new agreement, that energy distribution from the U.S. to Canada will be immediately reduced by 37 percent. The entitlement will be further reduced over the next decade by an additional 13 percent for a total reduction of 50 percent. If Canada opts to store more water for domestic use behind dams in British Columbia rather than releasing it to the United States for use in power generation, the entitlement will be automatically reduced by the additional amount of water withheld, ultimately saving Canadians water for domestic use and U.S. power generators funds.

The treaty also governs both long-term and on-call flood control for the United States. Under the current agreement, the United States benefits tremendously from the use of dams and reservoirs in British Columbia. Canadian water storage currently provides approximately 8.4-million-acre feet of flood control. The amount of flood control currently provided by British Columbia for the U.S. is enough to provide electricity for approximately 16 million homes for one year.

In a pivot from the original CRT, the new agreement also includes provisions for additional water flows for fish habitat, specifically salmon. It also strongly emphasizes working with Native American and Canadian First Nations members to inform decisions around how to create and maintain healthy habitats and ecosystems; something decidedly lacking from the initial treaty.

An agreement in principle on the CRT is a crucial step toward completing a years long process that has involved a great many people. Keeping a functional and formal partnership between Canada and the United States operating in a positive manner will benefit every person in the Pacific Northwest in the long run.