Newhouse, Reichert urge President to renegotiate Columbia River Treaty

Representatives Dan Newhouse, R-4th ,  Dave Reichert, R-8th  and a bipartisan group of Northwest lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to commence negotiations with Canada over the Columbia River Treaty as soon as possible.

The treaty adopted in 1964 provided for cooperative development of the Columbia River Basin with Canada agreeing to provide flood control in exchange for compensation from power generation in the U.S.  But in their letter to the President lawmakers point out that by some estimates,  Canada now gets ten times the benefit of Northwest interests and the treaty costs the U.S. $250 to $350 million annually with the cost borne by Northwest ratepayers.

Read the full letter to President Trump here