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SOS Blog

Save Our Wild Salmon

Columbia River Treaty agreement prioritizes status quo over the needs of imperiled salmon and river health

CRT Columbia near CeliloPark OR© Peter Marbach

On July 11, 2024, after years of negotiations to modernize the Columbia River Treaty, the United States and Canada announced an “Agreement in Principle.” The long-awaited announcement was met with frustration and disappointment by Save Our wild Salmon Coalition and civic, faith, clean energy, and conservation organizations across the Northwest.

In its current form, the new Agreement in Principle continues to prioritize hydropower and flood control over the needs of imperiled salmon and the river’s ecosystem. It leaves critical, unresolved questions regarding the health of the river and uncertainty and risk for fish populations facing extinction today.

“The health of the Columbia River must become an explicit purpose and priority in a new, modernized Treaty, stated Joseph Bogaard, executive director of the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition and chair of the Columbia River Treaty NGO Caucus. The Columbia Basin is out of balance today. A modernized Treaty must become a tool for restoring balance. Salmon advocates have serious concerns with this Agreement in Principle. In its current form, it means continued risk and uncertainty for this historic river, its native fish populations and the many benefits they bring to our communities."

Columbia Basin Tribes were not consulted in the initial 1964 agreement, though the Treaty’s heaviest costs were imposed upon them. SOS and our NGO partners support the Tribes’ request that the U.S. add Ecosystem Function to the Treaty’s purposes and a formal Tribal role in Treaty implementation – both important pieces given only lip service in the Agreement in Principle. A final Columbia River Treaty must elevate river health to the same level as power production and flood control as the Treaty's primary purposes, and include meaningful, clearly articulated Tribal consultation.

“The ecosystem-based function should have been the third leg of this discussion. Restoration work that has been happening in the past and currently has not been enough to recover salmon species; they have remained barely above extinction,” said Nez Perce Tribe Chairman Shannon Wheeler in a recent Seattle Times article.

Now that the confidential negotiations are largely concluded, we expect – and are actively calling for – far greater transparency and public involvement moving forward. Public review and opportunities for providing feedback must be held before the Treaty language becomes final. This will be your opportunity to speak up for the health of the river and justice for Native nations. We'll let you know when and how to ensure your voice is heard, so stay tuned! 

Randy Friedlander placing salmon remains at Grand Coulee Dam Peter Marbach 1200x800 WMFisherman Randy Friedlander, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, conducts ceremony placing carcasses of salmon at the base of Grand Coulee Dam to honor ancestors and show salmon the way when fish runs are restored. © Peter Marbach

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