Friday, July 20, 2018

The U.S. State Department will host a town hall meeting in Portland Sept. 6 to discuss the ongoing re-negotiation of the Columbia River Treaty.
 
The meeting will be led by Jill Smail, the State Department’s lead negotiator in talks with Canadian officials that are aimed at modernizing the treaty, which was enacted in 1964.
 
The town hall meeting at the Bonneville Power Administration’s Rates Hearing Room, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., will follow a round of negotiations that will be held in British Columbia Aug. 15-16, and an Oct. 17-18 round of negotiations that will be held in Portland.
 
The meeting is free and open to the public. Smail and other negotiators will provide a general overview of the negotiations and take questions. Questions can be sent in advance to ColumbiaRiverTreaty@state.gov.
 
The Columbia River Treaty was enacted mostly to provide flood risk management and affordable hydropower on both sides of the border.
 
“As the United States continues bilateral negotiations with Canada, our key objectives are guided by the U.S. Entity Regional Recommendation for the Future of the Columbia River Treaty after 2024, a consensus document published in 2013 after five years of consultations among the Tribes, states, stakeholders, public, and federal agencies,” a State Department press release states.
 
More information on the treaty and negotiations can be found at: https://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/ca/topics/c78892.htm
 
In addition to Smail, the U.S. negotiating team includes representatives from BPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division, the Department of Interior, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.