By Laura Keil
Kinbasket Lake: From apocalyptic mud flats bearing dust storms to idyllic summer lake perfect for camping and fishing, the character of Valemount’s beloved reservoir has always been decided by forces far from its shoreline. Now, a revised treaty may bring changes to its water levels.
The Canadian and United States negotiating teams for a revised Columbia River Treaty have reached an Agreement-in-Principle (AIP), in other words a draft of what the new treaty could look like if approved by both countries.
The Treaty — inked in 1964 — governs dam operation in Canada’s Columbia Basin and a portion of the U.S. Basin in order to provide flood control and increase power generation on both sides of the border. Three dams, governed by BC Hydro, are part of the Treaty in Canada: Hugh Keenleyside in Castlegar; Duncan Dam on Kootenay Lake, and Mica Dam on Kinbasket. On the U.S. side, Libby Dam is part of the Treaty.
Negotiations have been ongoing since 2018 to revise treaty terms to better incorporate values initially left out: Indigenous cultural values; ecological values; and recreational values, and negotiators say public engagement has been ongoing for a decade.
Among the changes in the new Agreement-in-Principle is flexibility in the way water is stored behind Canadian dams. It also includes provisions for migrating fish among other changes. So what will it mean for Kinbasket? The answer is still far from answered, but here’s what we’ve learned so far.
Canadian Flexibility
Canadian flexibility is known in the AIP as “Specified Operations” volume and it would allow Canada to adjust water levels behind treaty dams for domestic priorities, such as environmental, Indigenous cultural values and socioeconomic purposes. The flexibility would allow Canada to unilaterally decide how to manage up to 4.0 million acre feet (MAF) during the first 15 years, and up to 5.0 MAF after that. Canada would forego U.S. energy-sharing payments for using the flexibility, however, since it will affect power capability south of the border.
How this flexibility will be used by Canada and how much hasn’t yet been determined.
“There is significant research and river management scenario modelling underway that is informing how best to use this new flexibility,” according to a statement by Kathy Eichenberger, lead B.C. negotiator for the Treaty. Part of that modelling includes looking at different reservoir elevations and flows throughout the year.
It will be a balancing act, she says, to determine where to store water in the three Canadian treaty reservoirs. In the Arrow Lakes, for instance, 1 MAF represents a water level change of eight feet.
“That is something that’s being modelled to have a maximum elevation to allow for trees and shrubs and other vegetation that is important to all the wildlife to be re-established. That riparian vegetation can withstand flooding seven out of eight years.”
During an online information session Sept 17th, Eichenberger was asked whether there will be additional constraints imposed on BC Hydro’s management of storage in Kinbasket to address the ecological and social recreational effects on Arrow Lakes. She replied yes, depending on how the new flexibility is applied.
“It can be applied in Arrow. It can be applied in Kinbasket. It can be applied in Duncan. So the modelling that’s being done, to look at improvements in those three reservoirs and for flows for fish, are looking at all three reservoirs in a kind of a system-wide kind of lens. And that will also be presented to people in all the communities in the Basin once that’s further developed.”
Research to determine objectives for the modelling process is being led by the Ktunaxa, Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations in collaboration with federal and provincial governments, the Columbia River Treaty Local Governments Committee, and environmental non-governmental scientists and technical consultants.
Residents are keen to know how things will play out.
“How is it going to change things in my area? We know that people are anxious to see that,” Eichenberger says. “The modelling is still, I would say, another good six months away, if not a little bit more, because it’s very complex and it’s a very wide basin and trying to to look at how to enhance all these different values.”
Once ideas are formed, the treaty’s team working on the modelling will engage with locals to share ideas and receive feedback.
Columbia Basin Regional Advisory Committee
Valemount resident Korie Marshall is one of two locals who sits on the Columbia Basin Regional Advisory Committee, a body that aims to provide feedback from local communities to inform the new treaty. She says Kinbasket water levels are definitely the most pressing issue for Valemount locals and visitors, from the perspective of recreation, dust control, and ecosystems.
“The biggest thing I still hear from people is wanting the dust dealt with and potentially a more stable reservoir (level).”
The two go hand-in-hand, she says, but coming up with solutions will still require a lot of work.
“Getting this flexibility should mean we can start dealing with some of these issues.”
Marshall says there are no new minimum water levels proposed in the new AIP. But although higher water levels aren’t guaranteed, now Canada will have greater flexibility to achieve them.
At the Valemount Marina, this could mean a longer season for fishing, boating and camping.
“It’s painful when the water is so low,” says Josh Ball, Treasurer of the Valemount Marina Association. It affects how long they can install their dock system, for instance. “The docks were only in for eight weeks this year.”
That said, Marshalls says keeping Kinbasket at maximum elevation could have downsides as well.
“To keep the upper part, the northern tip wet, that would flood the peatlands, which I can’t imagine us flooding the peatlands and flooding what is actually a really productive ecosystem right now. It would just be kind of backwards to do that. So it’s a dilemma.”
She is still looking into how non-treaty storage (storage behind Mica dam that isn’t governed by the treaty) would be managed going forward and how locals might have a say in that.
Non-Treaty Storage
The non-treaty storage agreement manages an extra 5 MAF of non-treaty water in Kinbasket Reservoir. The commercial agreement between BC Hydro and Bonneville Power Administration just expired, says Eichenberger.
“My understanding is that it’s not being renewed at this time,” Eichenberger said during the online information session.
Marshall says the Regional Advisory Committee has broached the topic of how the committee might continue with a different mandate, including addressing non-treaty storage and the way BC Hydro’s domestic operations are affecting locals.
“BC Hydro is the operator of the reservoirs and it seems to us that BC Hydro might start coming to us (the Advisory Committee) but we might have to push for that.”
She says only two Valemount people — her and Councillor Donnie MacLean — are on the Committee right now.
“Can the two of us push enough for Kinbasket or should we try to come up with another committee that can address local issues?”
She says it’s important that locals have a say, and she says their feedback in the treaty process has been recognized as being valuable.
“Setting up CBRAC (the advisory committee) and the input that they (BC Hydro) have been receiving from First Nations, that’s all pretty historic, and I think it would be a shame if they (Hydro) said that’s the end of the line, we’re not going to talk to people anymore. They’ve realized it’s a good thing, and we should continue it.”
Transmission changes could mean higher levels
Eichenberger says another component of the agreement principle is possibly new access on U.S. transmission lines as it allows BC hydro to buy power when it’s economically advantageous and then Hydro can keep high-producing reservoirs, such as Kinbasket, at a higher level to allow more electricity production during the winter time.
Migratory salmon in Kinbasket?
Jay Johnson, chief negotiator and advisor to the Syilx Okanagan Nation, is one of the leaders at the forefront of helping salmon and other historically native fish return to the Upper Columbia (Canadian portion).
“The river was once the source of the largest salmon runs in the world, and included all salmon species,” he said during the information session Sept 17th. “For some historical anomaly, and really a byproduct of the times in the 60s, it was ignored completely in the (original) treaty, and the river was seen as a resource rather than an ecosystem.”
He says both Canada and the U.S. have already made inroads on supporting fish habitat, and this provides a platform for reintroducing species further north. In 2015 a collaboration of First Nations and U.S. Tribes published a paper on reintroducing fish in the Columbia Basin.
“Under the AIP, we’re now committed to a deeper transboundary collaboration, and that’s going to produce results.”
He says the Columbia River salmon runs this year will exceed the Fraser River for the first time in a long time.
“This reintroduction work from near-annihilation of the salmon to these historic numbers of upwards to 500,000 this year, are pretty significant and will have the potential to just grow.”
Fish ladders don’t exist yet on the Canadian dams, but Johnson says there is already a formal agreement for Mica Dam and he hopes to secure one soon for Hugh Keenleyside.
“We know that salmon can get and survive from Canada to the Columbia and back with the dams — there are 18 dams on the main stem of the Columbia — because we’ve got a historic run of almost 500,000 coming back of the sockeye coming back this year into Canada and feeding people all the way along the river.”
It’s unclear at this point, which fish species might be reintroduced above Mica Dam.
| Quick Facts |
|---|
What is the Columbia River Treaty? The Columbia River Treaty is a legal agreement between Canada and the United States governing the development and operation of dams in the upper Columbia River basin for power and flood control benefits in both countries. Four dams were constructed under this treaty: three in British Columbia (Duncan Dam, Mica Dam, Keenleyside Dam) and one in the U.S. state of Montana (Libby Dam). What is the Agreement-in-Principal (AIP)? According to Canada’s lead negotiator Stephen Gluck, it is Canada’s and the United States’ understanding of where negotiators have landed in terms of what both countries would like to see in a modernized Treaty. The AIP is a non-legally binding document providing the Canadian and US teams the pathway or a framework to begin drafting amendments for a modernized CRT. It covers flood risk management; Canadian flexibility, power coordination and transmission; compensation; power benefit sharing; ecosystem considerations; and time periods. Why is it being renegotiated? In 1964, the U.S. prepaid Canada $64 million for 60 years to provide assured flood control operations which resulted in reduced flood damage and increased safety for U.S. citizens. The U.S. also paid Canada half of the incremental power potential that could be produced because of Treaty coordination. 2024 marks 60 years since the original agreement, and so this has prompted both countries to undertake a review of the Treaty to determine its future. Who is in charge of administering the Treaty terms? The “Entities” are responsible bodies designated by each country to formulate and carry out the operating arrangements necessary for the implementation of the Columbia River Treaty. In Canada, BC Hydro is the entity for the implementation of CRT operations, and the Government of B.C. is the entity for the disposal of the Canadian Entitlement. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) are U.S. federal agencies that are jointly the entity for the implementation of the CRT. The AIP proposes to expand the input of First Nations and other stakeholders through several new bodies. Local consultation The Columbia River Treaty team has launched an online questionnaire available on the CRT website. They also welcome written submissions and plan to hold community meetings throughout the Canadian portion of the basin later this year. |
