Columbia River Treaty’s 49th Anniversary: Preparing for Upcoming Re-negotiations
By: Lauren Moldawer, Associate This September marks the forty-ninth anniversary of the United States and Canada’s Columbia River Treaty (Treaty),[1] which is one of the most sophisticated and important natural resource treaties to share in the world.[2] The Treaty provides the United States with “assured flood control” in exchange for providing Canada financial support for dam development and fifty percent of the hydropower produced downstream.[3] When ratified in 1964, the treaty was impermeable to change and could not be modified…