Canadian and U.S. negotiators are wading into a maze of conflicting interests as they prepare to 91裸聊视频渕odernize91裸聊视频� the Columbia River Treaty and repair the environmental damage.
Lead negotiators visited the Libby and Grand Coulee dams on the U.S. side and the Keenleyside, Revelstoke and Mica dams this week, then joined provincial, state and local officials for a get-acquianted session in Spokane.
There they heard stories of devastated valleys, lost forests, towns and salmon runs, and ongoing disruption of local economies and the environment.
Treaty's B.C. representative : "There are still people angry at losing homes and property 50 years ago."
91裸聊视频� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)
Nelson Mayor Deb Kozak described reservoirs with levels fluctuating the equivalent of a 15-storey building, leaving vast mud flats and dust storms as waters are released after flood storage.
That was after 12 communities were flooded along with surrounding prime forest, cutting off transportation routes and swallowing up prime bottom farmland throughout the region.
91裸聊视频淭hese are industrial reservoirs. They are not lakes,91裸聊视频� Kozak told the meeting dominated by U.S. state officials, tribal representatives and environmental organizations. 91裸聊视频淭hese were advertised as lakes with great recreational opportunities when the dams were created. They are not.91裸聊视频�
Representatives of Montana, Idaho and Washington told similar stories of lost forest, tourism and transportation from the massive damming of the Columbia River basin since the treaty was implemented in 1963. Treaty reservoirs inundated 110,000 hectares (270,000 acres) on the Canadian side and displaced more than 2,000 residents plus Indigenous communities, without consultation or assistance.
Negotiators stressed the need to adapt the treaty91裸聊视频檚 hydroelectric provisions to reflect the modern power market, and to maintain flood control and shipping on the U.S. side.
The core of the original treaty is payment via the value of electricity generated in exchange for Canada holding back water to prevent a repeat of devastating floods in 1948.
U.S. State Dept. negotiator Jill Smail:
91裸聊视频� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)
"Obviously, technology and the Northwest energy market have transformed dramatically since the 1960s."
91裸聊视频淲e paid for flood control storage in Canada until 2024, but after that, the treaty91裸聊视频檚 flood control provisions change to a less defined approach in terms of operations and compensation,91裸聊视频� said Jill Smail, Columbia River Treaty negotiator for the U.S. State Department.
Canadian negotiator Sylvain Fabi is also in charge of US cross-border pipelines: "Some of these interests contradict each other, but that doesn91裸聊视频檛 mean one is wrong."
91裸聊视频� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)
Canada91裸聊视频檚 role is mostly delegated to B.C., represented by Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy. She noted that the value of power assigned to B.C. has been declining in value each year.
91裸聊视频淎ll of the revenue to B.C. was worth as much as $250 million a decade ago,91裸聊视频� Conroy said. 91裸聊视频淭oday it is worth about $115 million annually, and that number looks likely to drop further in the coming years.
91裸聊视频淎nd while the negative impacts of the treaty have not diminished over the years, the revenue B.C. receives has diminished.91裸聊视频�
D.R. Michel, executive director of the Upper Columbia United Tribes, agreed with another speaker that his region was a 91裸聊视频渟acrifice zone91裸聊视频� for the lower region.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not just a machine to spin turbines and protect Portland,91裸聊视频� Michel said. 91裸聊视频淭hey permanently took the floods that happened annually down river and moved them up into our area, so we feel those impacts and those losses every day.91裸聊视频�
