The provincial government has publicly stated they want to extend the 50-year Columbia River Treaty – but whether the U.S. government will agree is an open question.
“We believe continuing the Columbia River Treaty while exploring how improvements could benefit both countries is the best strategy moving forward for B.C., Canada and the United States,” said Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines in a statement.
Although the treaty has no specific end date, either Canada or the U.S. can unilaterally terminate the agreement by September 16th of this year, although the treaty would remain in effect for another 10 years.
The treaty lays out how dams in the Columbia River basin are operated, ensuring that power is generated while environmental and social risks are mitigated.
Dams and reservoirs constructed along the Columbia River control water releases and prevent floods, but dams also create hydro-electric power, which earns B.C. between $100 million and $300 million annually from the Americans.
Some Americans says their high hydro bills subsidize energy payments to the province.
It will stay in place indefinitely, unless one side serves notice by this September that it wants a new deal. In that case, the original treaty would expire in 2024, and in recent years U.S. interests have indicated the payments have become too rich.
“Their position is that the $100 million to $300 million per year is more than what they should pay,” Bennett said in an interview last year.
However, he argues that the U.S. isn’t paying for all of the benefits it receives outside of the deal’s basic flood-control measures, which is something that needs to be addressed.
In a U.S. Senate committee last year, Stephen Oliver, a vice-president of Bonneville Power and coordinator of the treaty review for the U.S. side, said “We’re presently paying about 90 per cent more than we should be.”
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