Two upcoming public information sessions will highlight local government-led efforts to explore how a modernized Columbia River Treaty could better support social and economic interests in the Canadian Columbia Basin.

Under the current Columbia River Treaty, dam operations are managed primarily to generate power and protect against flooding, but also affect a wide variety of other interests in the basin.

As Canada and the United States continue negotiations to modernize the treaty, the Canadian negotiating team, which includes Canada, B.C. and the Ktunaxa, Secwepemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations, is exploring different ways of operating the Canadian treaty dams to support ecosystems, Indigenous cultural values and socio-economic interests, such as recreation, tourism and navigation.

To inform these discussions, a computerized river-management model is being used to assess different scenarios for how the dams could be operated along the Columbia and Kootenay rivers.

The upcoming webinars will focus on the socio-economic aspect, as the Columbia River Treaty Local Governments Committee leads efforts to identify social and economic objectives that are being integrated into the computer modelling.

The webinars will provide an overview of the committee’s work and will give attendees an opportunity to ask questions. Participants will be invited to share their feedback through an online survey following the webinars.

The first session, focused on Columbia River interests, will take place on Jan. 30.

The second session, centred on Kootenay River interests, will take place on Feb. 2.

Both sessions will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Pacific time); 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Mountain time) and will be accessible online or by phone.

The webinars are open to members of the public, but participants will need to register in advance.

For more information and to register for one or both of these sessions, click here.

Lead image: Lake Koocanusa. e-KNOW file photos

Columbia River Treaty Team

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