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Religious, Tribal Leaders Send To U.S.
President, Canadian Prime Minister Declaration
On Modernizing Columbia River Treaty |
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September 27, 2014 |
from the Columbia Basin Bulletin
Religious and indigenous leaders this week
transmitted to U.S. President Barack
Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
a "Declaration of Ethics and
Modernizing the Columbia River Treaty," which
they say should serve as the
foundation for international negotiations
regarding renewal of the Columbia River
Treaty.
"Both nations need to work together to right
historic wrongs and promote water
stewardship in the face of climate change,"
according to the letter from the
religious and tribal leaders. The letter is
signed by 14 religious leaders and seven
indigenous leaders representing nearly all
tribes and First Nations in the Columbia
River basin.
"The declaration speaks very clearly of how
important and critical it is for there
to be justice to correct the many years of
injustice to the native people of the
Columbia basin, including the First Nations of
Canada," said Matt Wynne, chairman of the Upper
Columbia United Tribes (UCUT).
UCUT is an organization involving five major
interior Columbia basin tribes, the
Coeur d'Alene Tribe, the Kalispel Tribe of
Indians, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, the
Spokane Tribe of Indians and the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation. UCUT
is focused on ensuring a healthy future for the
traditional territorial lands and taking a
proactive and collaborative approach to
promoting Indian culture, fish, water, wildlife
and habitat.
"Religious and indigenous leaders coming
together to sign and support this
declaration underscores that the future of the
Columbia River is not just a
political, but a moral issue. Native Americans
suffered the greatest losses and the
most damage as a result of not being included in
the first negotiations leading up
to the 1964 treaty. It helps keep my spirit
strong knowing that our struggle for
justice and stewardship of the river carries so
much faith-based support."
"Rarely does the convergence of political
responsibility, indigenous rights, and
ecosystem benefit converge in such a dramatic
and urgent way," said Bishop Mark
MacDonald, the Anglican Church of Canada's first
National Indigenous Anglican
bishop. "A modernized treaty for the Columbia
River is an opportunity for all the
peoples of the Columbia - and the great system
of life which is the river ecosystem
- to walk through to a new day of justice and
well-being."
The Columbia River Treaty is an agreement
between Canada and the United States for the
cooperative development of water resources
regulation, primarily for flood control and
power generation, in the upper Columbia River
Basin. It was signed in 1961 and implemented in
1964.
The Columbia River is the fourth largest river
on the continent as measured by
average annual flow and generates more power at
dams in Canada and the northwestern United
States than any other river in North America.
Its headwaters originate in British Columbia,
but only about 15 percent of the 259,500 square
miles of the Columbia River basin is actually in
Canada.
But Canadian waters account for about 38 percent
of the average annual volume, and up to 50
percent of the peak flood waters, that flow by
lower Columbia's The Dalles Dam.
The treaty says that either Canada or the United
States can terminate most of the
provisions of the treaty any time on or after
Sept.16, 2024, with a minimum 10
years written advance notice. Both countries
announced within the past year that
they would like to update the treaty but neither
has given formal notice. And
negotiations have yet to commence regarding any
changes to the document.
A recommendation sent by the U.S. "Entity" heads
of the Bonneville Power
Administration and the U.S. Corps of Engineers'
Northwest Division -- in December to the U.S.
State Department said that a modernized treaty
would need to:
-- better address the region's interest in a
reliable and economically sustainable
hydropower system and reflect a more reasonable
assessment of the value of
coordinated power operations with Canada;
-- continue to provide a similar level of flood
risk management to protect public
safety and the region's economy;
-- include ecosystem-based function as one of
the primary purposes of the Treaty; and
-- create flexibility within the Treaty to
respond to climate change, changing
water supply needs and other potential future
changes in system operations while
continuing to meet authorized purposes such as
navigation and irrigation.
Each country has stated that the benefits
stemming from the treaty, including revenues
from power production and flood control, need to
be more fairly apportioned.
The U.S. Entity says that current entitlement
payments (currently worth $250-$350
million per year) delivered to Canada are higher
than actual benefits produced in
the United States today.
The declaration developed by the tribes and
religious leaders sets forth eight
principles for modernizing the Columbia River
Treaty that include respecting
indigenous rights, protecting and restoring
healthy ecosystems with abundant fish
and wildlife populations, and providing fish
passage to all historical locations.
Political leaders in Ottawa and Washington D.C.
have not taken a position on the
renegotiation of the Columbia River Treaty.
Federal agencies within the United States have
recommended that the United States
and Canada "develop a modernized framework for
the treaty that ensures a more
resilient and healthy ecosystem-based function
throughout the Columbia River basin while
maintaining an acceptable level of flood risk
and assuring reliable and
economic hydropower benefits." All four
Northwest states, 15 Columbia Basin tribes,
fishermen, and environmentalists appear to
support that recommendation.
British Columbia provincial officials released
their draft recommendation in March of 2014.
Their recommendation was that the treaty be
renewed and that changes occur within the
existing framework. The B.C. Province maintains
that ecosystem values are currently an important
consideration and that they should continue to
be a consideration, as well as adaptation to
climate change, in treaty planning and
implementation. The federal government in Ottawa
that will negotiate with the United States has
not yet issued Canada's recommendations on the
treaty.
The declaration highlights what the tribes and
religious groups say are key points
regarding the rights and management authorities
of the Columbia Basin tribes in the
United States and the First Nations in Canada
that were ignored when the Treaty was
implemented 50 years ago.
The declaration is based on the Columbia River
Pastoral Letter, signed by the twelve Roman
Catholic bishops of the international watershed,
that called on everyone to "work together to
develop and implement an integrated spiritual,
social and ecological vision for our watershed
home."
The request sent to Obama and Harper this week
also follows 17 multi-faith prayer vigils held
in August along the 1,200 miles of the mainstem
Columbia River that focused on the need to
restore salmon runs now blocked by dams.
The Columbia River Treaty governs the management
of the Columbia River, shared by Canada and the
United States. Dams transformed the Columbia
River into the world's largest integrated
hydropower machine and reduced flood risk
allowing flood plain real estate development.
Dams blocked returning salmon, permanently
flooded vast river valleys and wildlife habitat,
forced thousands of people from their homes and
ancestral fishing sites, and destroyed a way of
life known to indigenous people from time
immemorial, according to the tribes and
religious groups.
"The trust, treaty and honor obligations of the
United States and Canada to ensure
healthy, sustainable populations of salmon,
sturgeon, lamprey, bull trout and other
native fish and wildlife, their habitats and
other cultural resources were not
provided for in the treaty and tribes were not
consulted during its negotiation,"
according to a press release from the tribes and
religious groups.
Both U.S. and Canadian recommendations have said
that environmental concerns, such as restored
passage for fish, should be included in treaty
negotiations.
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