Water without Borders:The Columbia River Treaty Renegotiation and

Transboundary Water Governance

Border Policy Research InstituteWestern Washington University

January 23, 2013

Dr. Emma S. NormanAssistant Professor of Geography

Department of Social Sciences

Environmental and Energy Policy Program

Questions…

• What does the CRT tell us about changing governance patterns?

• Are borders ‘softening’ or ‘thickening’

• Lessons learned?

• Why does it matter?

CRT 101• 1961 / Ratified in 1964

• Constructed 4 dams

• Flood Control

• Cost Sharing

• Shared Energy / Benefits

• Mechanisms for Cooperation

• Possible Termination:

• 2024 / 2014 (Sept. 16)

• Treaty ‘Modernization’

When does the story start?

Now

Many Entry Points

• Act 1: People and Place: Knowing the River

• Act 2: Harnessing Energy

• Act 3: Treaty Making / ‘Sharing’ Power

• Act 4: Rethinking Power

Many bends in the river:How I came to my questions…

Knowledge of, connection to Place

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce TribeMarmes Rock Shelter (1967)

Human inhabitants dating back 11,230 years ago

c. 1900

Sceneries of

Columbia River,

Drying salmon,

Celilo Falls,

Oregon". No.

10541, B.W.

Kilburn

Company.

James Davis

photo

The Great Provider

Knowing / Naming the ‘Big River’:Wimahl, Nch’i-Wàna, swah'netk'qhu, Columbia

Map of Lew and Clark, Across the Western Portion of N.

America, published 1814

Robert Gray, Named the Columbia river, in 1792

Social Power / Power of Maps

David Thompson:

map-maker, trader, explorer

“. . .in their power”

• upstream / downstream

protocol. . .

• know your neighbors. . .

Dipnet fishing at the Cul-De-Sac of Celilo Falls (Columbia River) circa 1957, Oregon,

USA. United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Harnessing the Columbia River Creating the Discourse

,

folk singer Woody Guthrie

“Roll on Columbia. . . . “

Commissioned by Bonneville

Power Authority

Borders, Politics, Power

Crisis and Political Mobilization:Columbia River Flood, 1948

Vanport, OR

Treaty Now and Then

What the Treaty Does

• Coordinates Flood Control

• Generates Energy

• Generates Revenues

• Cost-Sharing

• Federal Controlled / Acted

Grievances

• Loss of Ecosystems (Salmon Habitat)

• Inequitable Cost-Share

• Lack of Indigenous Rights

• Lack of Community Participation & Decision Making and Participation

Changing Ecology

John Day Dam Fish Ladder Slackwater Pools

Changing Governance Mechanisms

1st meeting of the International Joint Commission, 1912

International Watersheds Boards, 2012

Round Table Discussion on Water Security, 2011

Different Eras

• Cooperative

Development

• Comprehensive Management

• Sustainable

Development

• Participatory

– Projects of mutual benefit

– 1944 – 1964

– i.e. Columbia River dam

- Linking environment and economy- 1986 – 2000 / current

- Increased local participation

• 2000 - current

• i.e. Watershed Boards

-Issue – based-1965 – 1985

i.e. Great Lakes WaterQuality Agreement/Annex

Renegotiation Process

Regional Recommendations ~ 3 years

Federal Review

~ 9 months

Renegotiation Process

Inclusion of Indigenous Groups

Inclusion of Citizen Groups

Greater Consideration for Ecosystems

Provisions for adaptation to Climate Change

? ? Maintains Similar Flood Control Provisions

Modernized TreatyRegional Recommendations (BC) Post 2024

• Better address the region’s need for a reliable and economically sustainable

hydropower system;

• Continue to provide a similar level of flood risk management to protect public safety

and the region’s economy;

• include ecosystem-based function as a third primary purpose of the Treaty, to

ensure a more comprehensive approach throughout the Columbia Basin watershed;

and

• create the flexibility within the Treaty that is necessary to respond to climate change,

changing water supply needs, and other future potential changes in system operations

while continuing to meet authorized purposes such as navigation.

Modernized TreatyRegional Recommendations (US) Post 2024

• Greatest Possible Shared Benefits - Continued Cooperation of Operations of Treaty

Reservoirs;

• Health of ecosystem should be a shared benefit and shared cost of the U.S. and

Canada;

• All operations based on ‘best available science’ and ‘measurable outcomes’.

• create the flexibility within the Treaty that is necessary to respond to climate change,

changing water supply needs, and other future potential changes in system operations

while continuing to meet authorized purposes such as navigation.

Modernized Treaty Categories

• Hydropower

• Flood Risk Management

• Ecosystem Based Function

• Water Supply

• Navigation Recreation

• Climate Change

Ecosystem Based Function

• 2. “A modernized Treaty should recognize and minimize adverse effects to tribal, First Nations, and other cultural resource in Canada and the United States. To the extent there are adverse effects……Federal Columbia River Power Systems Cultural Resources Program.

Other Transboundary “Hotspots”Continued Lessons”

Flathead River Basin

Issue: Different Priorities / Asymmetrical Governance

St. Mary and Milk Rivers

“Spite Canal” – Alberta / Montana

Issues: Cost Share / Benefit / Failing Infrastructure /

Communication Breakdown

Red River Basin / Devils Lake

Devils Lake, 1984

Devils Lake, 2009

Issues: Flooding, Diversion, Lack of Communication, Unilateral Action

Great Lakes / Freshwater Nation

Issues: Ecosystem Degradation – Extraterritorial Pollution

What CRT tells us about governance patterns

• Greater need for…

• Inclusion of Indigenous treaty rights, land claims, and self–governance

• Consideration of environmental provisions

• Aligning governance mechanisms with increased public expectations for public involvement and regional representation.

Are borders ‘softening’ or ‘thickening’?

Lessons Learned…

• Know your neighbor

• Keep communicating (in times of non-crisis)

• Think Systemically / Holistically

• Power (like water) comes in many forms

• Learn from the Past

• Be prepared for the future

Think like a river….

Why does it matter?

More Questions & New Projects

What is the the ‘right’ scale for water governance?

Negotiating Water Governance:Why the Politics of Scale Matter (Ashgate, 2014)

How can shared governance lead to self-determination and decolonization?

Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States and Indigenous Communities (Routledge, 2014)

Polly Spenner, 2012, Collage #5

Thank you!

www.waterwithoutborders.info

Drs. Alice Cohen and Karen Bakker

Legal Consul: John Shurts and Richard Paisley

Border Policy

Research

Institute

Harnessing Energy

http://www.crt2014-2024review.gov/Files/Draft%20Regional%20Recommendation,%20Final,%20092013.pdf