Canada Ready to Renegotiate Critical Columbia River Treaty

"A spokesman for Canada's department of international affairs, Global Affairs Canada, confirms it is ready to renegotiate the 52-year-old treaty that governs the Columbia River," reports Chris Wood.

"The treaty controls management of the Mica, Keenleyside and Duncan dams, which were built on Canadian stretches of the river during the 1960s by the W.A.C. Bennett government to maximize flood control and power generation downstream in the United States," according to Wood, but critics decry the treaty's obsolescence. A 2014 book on the subject reported that Canada was owed millions of dollars in return for downstream benefits.

Although the treaty has no expiration date, it can be "amended or ended, on 10 years' notice, any time after 2024," according to Wood. The article includes more details about the terms of the current treaty and what a future treaty could potentially change from the current arrangement.