Columbia River Treaty 



The "Treaty between Canada and the United States 

 Relating to Cooperative Development of the Water Resources of 

 the Columbia River Basin," was signed in 1964, and it will 

 end in 2003. This agreement, a keystone in the development 

 of the vast hydropower system of the Pacific Northwest, 

 provides for both flood control and power benefits. Some key 

 provisions of the treaty that affect water management in the 

 Columbia River Basin are summarized below: 



• Canada is required to develop 15.5 million AF of 

 storage in British Columbia available for power in 

 the U.S. and for downstream flood control. 



9 Construction of Libby Dam on the Kootenai River in 

 the U.S. was approved and some inundation upstream 

 in Canada was allowed. 



• The U.S. is required to operate downstream projects 

 on the Columbia River in such a manner to make 

 effective use of the added streamflow resulting 

 from Canadian storage. 



• The two nations are required to divide the 

 resultant downstream power benefits equally. 

 Canada's share of the downstream benefits for the 

 first 30 years were sold by Canada to a group of 

 Pacific Northwest utilities. 



• The U.S. is required to pay Canada for the flood 

 control provided by Canadian storage. The payment 

 reflects the flood damage prevented in the U.S. and 

 compensates Canada for the economic loss arising 

 from foregoing alternative uses of storage used to 

 provide for flood control. 



Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement 



The Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement is a 

 contract for planned operation among the 16 major operating 

 utilities. The agreement became effective in 1964, and it is 

 scheduled to end in 2003. The agreement provides operational 

 guarantees that insure usability of the Columbia River 

 Treaty storage to -downstream generating plants and specifies 

 the restoration Oi. pretreaty capabilities to certain plants 

 under certain conditions. 



A fundamental concept of the coordination agreement is 

 "Firm Load-Carrying Capability," commonly abbreviated as 

 FLCC. For the coordinated system of all 16 parties, the FLCC 



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